Business Roundup

Rhodia will close its cellulose acetate cigarette filter tow plant in Valencia, Venezuela, by the end of 2010. The plant employs about 120 people. Rhodia says it will serve filter tow customers from plants in Germany, Russia, Brazil, and the U.S.

Chemtura has opened a technical support and applications development center in Nanjing, China. Staffed with 25 scientists, the center will support Chemtura’s crop protection, flame retardants, petroleum additives, and urethanes businesses. Chemtura recently moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai.

Evonik Industries plans to shut down polyethylene wax production in Herne, Germany, by the end of 2010 because of declining profitability. However, the firm says it will continue to sell Fischer-Tropsch-based waxes.

BASF has licensed from Japan’s Meiji Seika most global rights to a new highly selective insecticide that controls piercing and sucking insects. The pesticide will be approved for launch outside Japan in 2015, BASF expects. It can be used on vegetables, fruits, and other crops.

Solvay is making an additional $2.1 million investment in ACAL Energy, a U.K.-based developer of platinum-free cathode technology for fuel cells. The two companies plan to test the technology in a demonstration plant at Solvay’s Cheshire, En­gland, facility.

Mitsubishi Chemical will take a 49% stake in a Chinese producer of lithium-ion battery raw materials. The new venture, owned 37% by China’s Qingdao Taida and 14% by Japanese chemical producer Meiwa, will build a 2,000-metric-ton-per-year spherical graphite anode plant in Qingdao, China.

Shimadzu’s Kratos Analytical subsidiary and diagnostics developer bioMérieux will work together to develop a new matrix-assisted laser de­sorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry system for bacterial identification. They intend to optimize the technology for use in microbiology laboratories.

Pfizer Animal Health has acquired Microtek International, a specialist in aquaculture vaccines. Pfizer notes that global fish consumption now exceeds that of pork, poultry, beef, or dairy.

Clovis Oncology will help advance Avila Therapeutics’ epidermal growth factor receptor mutant-selective inhibitor program. Clovis will handle development, paying Avila an up-front fee and milestones totaling up to $209 million.