Business Roundup

Johnson Matthey has acquired Applied Utility Systems, a subsidiary of Catalytic Solutions that specializes in selective catalytic reduction systems for reducing power plant nitrogen oxide emissions. Matthey says AUS fits with its existing emissions control business.

Metabolix has completed a field trial of tobacco genetically engineered to produce the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate. The harvested plants contained up to 5% PHA. The biopolymer firm hopes to develop crops that can coproduce energy and plastics.

Evonik Industries has completed the sale of its AlzChem unit to private equity firm bluO for $116 million in cash. AlzChem produces calcium cyanamide-based ingredients for the plastics, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries.

Metabolon, a biomarker discovery and analysis start-up, has raised $12.3 million in its third round of funding. New investors included Syngenta Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of agriculture firm Syngenta. Syngenta and Metabolon have an ongoing research partnership.

Linde will build a 2,550-metric-ton-per-day air separation unit at Tata Steel’s plant in Jamshedpur, India. Linde says the $126 million unit will be India’s largest air separation plant when it begins operating in 2012.

Dow Chemical and Dole Foods don’t have to pay $97 million to 150 Nicaragua banana farm workers who claimed they were rendered sterile from exposure to the soil fumigant 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane. A judge in Miami ruled that the Nicaraguan court making the award denied Dow and Dole the right to defend themselves.

Aceto Chairman and CEO Leonard S. Schwartz will retire on Nov. 20 after 40 years with the chemical distributor. Vincent Miata, president of Aceto, becomes CEO effective immediately.

Malvern Instruments and Kaiser Optical Systems will collaborate on products for life sciences and forensic applications. To guide the collection of Raman data on particulate and solid materials, their first project will be to integrate Malvern’s Morphologi image analysis system with Kaiser’s RamanRxn analyzers and probes.

Cephalon has paid $30 million for an option to purchase BioAssets Development, a Wellesley, Mass.-based biotech firm. BioAssets is conducting a Phase II study of etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor intended to treat sciatica.