Business Roundup

Rhodia is building a new surfactants plant at its Roha site near Mumbai, India. The plant, set to open in late 2007, is intended to help Indian customers meet the country's growing demand for more sophisticated home and personal care products.

Bayer and Pearl Insulation Materials, a Dubai-based specialist in rigid polyurethane foams, are establishing a polyurethane systems joint venture in Dubai. The partnership, called BaySystems Pearl, is slated to begin operations early next year under Bayer's strategic leadership.

Occidental Petroleum is offering to sell 10 million shares of Lyondell Chemical stock. Following the offering, Oxy will own about 8.2% of Lyondell.

Arkema and development partners have been awarded a $6.3 million grant from the Department of Energy to continue research on membranes and membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells. The grant is part of the $100 million DOE awarded last month for fuel-cell research.

BASF is adding production of Natugrain Wheat TS, a xylanase enzyme, at its headquarters complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany. According to the company, the enzyme promotes the breakdown of arabinoxylane, a component of plant-based animal feed.

Süd-Chemie has acquired Tricat Zeolites, a German catalyst maker. The 40 employees at Tricat's Bitterfeld plant make zeolite-based catalysts used in the refining and petrochemical industries and in environmental applications.

Biovitrum of Sweden has enlisted India-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals to perform medicinal chemistry work to support drug discovery. Orchid recently scored a contract to supply R&D support for Pfizer's animal health business.

Sigma-Aldrich's SAFC Pharma unit has been selected to manufacture 1.5 kg of Bionomic's lead cancer compound to support preclinical and Phase I/II trials of the drug. The compound, BNC 105, is a vascular disruption agent that cuts off the blood supply that tumors need to survive.

Avecia and Illumigen Biosciences have formed a process development and manufacturing agreement under which Avecia will manufacture Illumigen's IB657, a biologic treatment for hepatitis C and other RNA viruses.