Business Roundup

Praxair plans to build a specialty gases facility in China's Nanjing Science Park that will produce calibration gases and ultra-high-purity gases for the electronics industry. The plant is set to open in August 2008.

Lanxess will invest roughly $14 million to expand production of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers at its plant in Dormagen, Germany. The expansion will add 15,000 metric tons of annual capacity in 2009.

Air Products & Chemicals has sold its OptiYield positive photoresist developer business to FujiFilm Electronic Materials. Production of the developer, used in electronics photolithography, will be transferred from Air Products' Tempe, Ariz., facility to FujiFilm's Mesa, Ariz., facility by early 2008.

Innophos Holdings says the Justice Department is investigating it and other producers of sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) for antitrust violations. According to a filing with SEC, Innophos received a federal grand jury subpoena asking for documents on its STPP business from January 2002 through December 2005.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Merck & Co. have ended a research collaboration related to RNAi therapeutics. The pact was initiated in 2003 but amended last year, just months before Merck bought Sirna Therapeutics, Alnylam's rival in the RNAi drug field. By ending the pact, Alnylam has taken back all rights to its intellectual property related to Merck programs.

Dow Chemical will acquire Edulan, a Danish company specializing in the formulation of polyurethane systems for rigid foams and elastomers. Dow says the deal will prepare it for growth in the Nordic countries.