ago, and already, the company says, capacity at its plant has nearly sold out. The market for the products, used in water treatment, is growing at a 10% annual rate, the company says. Lanxess expects the new capacity to be on-line during the second half of next year. Over the past five years, Lanxess has invested $45 million in the Bitterfeld reverse-osmosis membrane plant.—ALEX TULLO
ANTIBIOTICS
▸ Pfizer will acquire AstraZeneca business Pfizer has agreed to acquire AstraZeneca’s late-stage small-molecule antibiotics business, primarily outside the U.S., for $725 million and up to $850 million in future payments. The business includes Zavicefta, recently approved in the European Union; the marketed products Merrem and Zinforo; and two products in clinical development. AstraZeneca spun off its antibiotics R&D efforts as Entasis Therapeutics last year.—MICHAEL MCCOY
NEUROSCIENCE
▸ Denali raises big second funding round Denali Therapeutics has pulled in $130 million in its second round of fund-
raising. The company launched in May 2015 with an investment commitment of $217 million, an amount that was called the largest ever for a biotech firm. Denali, which is focused on neurodegenerative disease, was founded by former Genentech scientists. Separately, the company has acquired San Diego-based Incro Pharmaceuticals for access to its RIP1 inhibitor program. It also licensed LRRK2 inhibitors from Genentech and filed to start a clinical trial of a small-molecule RIP1 inhibitor.—
MICHAEL MCCOY
AGRICULTURE
▸ Potash projects hit milestones, setbacks Two companies attempting to break into the Saskatchewan potash fertilizer industry with major multi-billion-dollar projects— K+S and BHP Billiton—report progress but also say that they don’t expect to ramp up production as fast as they first intended. K+S staged the ceremonial commissioning of its 2 million-metric-ton-per-year Legacy mining project near Regina, Saskatchewan. However, the company expects the first metric ton of production out of the facility to come toward the middle of next year, not later this year as originally planned. Billiton’s Jansen, Saskatchewan, project is 60% complete and should have its mine shafts finished as early as 2018. However, the company says it could mothball the
Business Roundup
CREDIT: K+S
▸ Honeywell and Albemarle are ending a hydroprocessing catalyst technology alliance that they formed in 2006. The two firms say they will go their separate ways in providing hydrotreating and other catalysts to oil refiners. ▸ A. Schulman, has appointed Joseph M. Gingo, 71, as CEO. He previously served in that role from 2008 to 2014. After poor financial performance at the company, Bernard Rzepka, 56, stepped down from the top position. ▸ Solvay has completed an
A potash storage facility at K+S’s Legacy mine.
expansion of its Piedmont, S.C., carbon fiber plant, doubling capacity at the facility. The plant’s production has been qualified by airplane maker Boeing and will be used in movable wing flaps and other aerospace applications. ▸ Fusion Coolant Systems, a maker of supercritical carbon dioxide metalworking fluids, has raised $1.25 million from investors. The University of Michigan spin-out will use the funding to advance its technology in the automotive and aerospace sector.
projects at that time if there is still industry overcapacity of the potassium crop nutrient.—ALEX TULLO
DRUG DISCOVERY
▸ Bayer, Crispr joint venture now Casebia Bayer and Crispr Therapeutics have settled on Casebia Therapeutics as the name for their joint venture launched last December. The name derives from the Cas family of nuclease enzymes—key components of the CRISPR gene-editing technology on which the new venture will base its therapeutic programs. Casebia has access to technology from Crispr Therapeutics in specific disease areas, as well as access to protein engineering expertise and relevant disease know-how from Bayer. The venture recently subleased laboratory space in Cambridge, Mass., with room for up to 80 employees.—RICK MULLIN
▸ Orion Engineered Carbons plans to shutter its carbon black plant in Ambès, France, by the end of this year. The facility currently employs 40 people and produces 45,000 metric tons of the tire additive annually. ▸ VUV Analytics, a maker of ultraviolet absorption spectrometry instruments, has raised $6.5 million from investors. The funding will help the firm expand into the laboratory analytical and process control markets. ▸ Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research & De-
velopment Authority of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to manufacture and study two antibody therapies for the potential prevention and treatment of Middle East respiratory syndrome. HHS will provide funding to Regeneron of up to $8.9 million. ▸ Cerulean Pharma, a drug development firm specializing in nanoparticle-drug conjugates, says it will reduce its workforce by approximately 48%, to 23 full-time employees, by the end of the year. The company’s lead clinical candidate failed in trials for kidney cancer earlier this year.
AUGUST 29, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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