PROCESS CHEMISTRY
NEUROSCIENCE
▸ India’s Ipca acquires U.S. drug contractor
▸ Pfizer invests in neuroscience start-up
The Indian drug services firm Ipca Laboratories has purchased Pisgah Labs, a contract manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Pisgah Forest, N.C., for $9.7 million. The deal follows Ipca’s 2015 acquisition of Onyx Scientific, a U.K.-based specialist in custom synthesis, solid-state chemistry, and small-scale drug chemical production. Ipca says Pisgah will allow it to manufacture small-volume APIs in the U.S. as well.—RICK MULLIN
Just two weeks after deciding to ax its neuroscience research efforts, Pfizer has signed a deal with neuroinflammation-focused MindImmune Therapeutics. The biotech firm was founded at the University of Rhode Island in 2016 by former Pfizer employees, including MindImmune CEO Stevin Zorn. The start-up will develop drugs that target peripheral immune system cells, aiming to treat conditions of the central nervous system, including Alzheimer’s disease. The deal signals continued interest in alternatives to the classic amyloid-β and tau protein targets of Alzheimer’s drugs, all of which have failed thus far.—RYAN CROSS
ONCOLOGY
▸ Tmunity is formed for cellular therapies Tmunity Therapeutics, a biotech firm cofounded by cellular therapy pioneer Carl June, has raised $100 million in its first formal round of financing. Ping An Ventures, Gilead Sciences, and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy are among the investors in Tmunity, which was launched in 2016 by June and other University of Pennsylvania researchers. Led by Usman Azam, former head of Novartis’s cell and gene therapies unit, the firm is working on T-cell immunotherapies for cancer. The funding is one of several recent large series A rounds. Earlier this month, Gossamer Bio and BioNTech raised $100 million and $270 million, respectively.—LISA JARVIS
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMICALS
▸ Avista buys into solid-state services Drug development services firm Avista Pharma Solutions has acquired Solid Form Solutions, a provider of solid-state pharmaceutical chemistry and crystallization services based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Solid Form Solutions provides salt screening and selection, cocrystal and polymorph screening, and crystallization services. For Avista, the purchase follows expansion last year of analytical capabilities in Durham, N.C.; drug substance and product manufacturing in Longmont, Colo.; and micro-
C R E D I T: S O LI D FO R M S O LUT I O N S
Business Roundup ▸ The U.S. Department of Commerce has assessed duties of up to 48% on imports of polyester staple fiber from China and India because of “unfair government subsidies.” DAK Americas, Nan Ya Plastics, and Auriga Polymers initiated the complaint that precipitated the duties. ▸ AkzoNobel will spend more than $15 million to expand its organic peroxides facility in Los Reyes, Mexico. The project includes a new
facility for Perkadox CH-50, an organic peroxide used to cure thermoset resins. ▸ Toray Industries will expand capacity for Ultrasuede by 60% at its plant in Shiga, Japan. The material is used in high-end car interiors and home furniture. Toray also owns Alcantara, an Italian producer of high-end synthetic suede. ▸ Ingenza, a British industrial biotech firm, has joined ConBioChem, a col-
A still from a Solid Form Solutions video showing the firm’s capabilities. biology and sterility testing in Agawam, Mass.—RICK MULLIN
START-UPS
▸ Skyhawk launches to target RNA Excitement over targeting RNA with small molecules continues with the launch of Skyhawk Therapeutics. The Waltham, Mass.-based start-up raised $8 million in seed funding to make compounds that target binding pockets in RNA splicing machinery to treat conditions caused by exon skipping, a process in which shortened versions of RNA are produced. Drugs that fix exon skipping and restore production of RNA have gained attention in clinical trials for spinal muscular atrophy. Skyhawk plans to file an Investigational New Drug Application for a cancer compound by the end of 2018.—RYAN CROSS
laboration for continuous bioproduction of commodity chemicals. ConBioChem was recently awarded $5 million by Innovate UK. ▸ FPInnovations and Resolute Forest Products are planning a $17 million facility in Ontario to produce lignin and other chemicals from wood. The project has funding from local and national Canadian authorities. ▸ Paragon Bioservices plans to build a second plant in the Baltimore area to provide gene therapy manufacturing services. The facility will have
500- and 2,000-L single-use bioreactors plus labs. ▸ Kite Pharma, part of Gilead Sciences, will acquire Agensys’s R&D labs in Santa Monica, Calif., according to the real estate intelligence firm CoStar. Agensys was shut down last year after being acquired by Astellas Pharma. ▸ BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Idera Pharmaceuticals are merging into a new firm focused on rare diseases. The combined company will have four drugs in Phase II or III clinical trials.
JANUARY 29, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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