Business Roundup

Bruker is planning an initial public offering of shares worth up to $100 million in its subsidiary Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, a maker of superconducting materials for magnetic resonance imaging. The subsidiary, which had $60 million in sales last year, seeks to develop the materials for making silicon ingots and wind-turbine generators.

Umicore has licensed asymmetric ketone hydrogenation technology developed by Japanese academics Ryoji Noyori and Takao Ikariya. Under the agreement, the firm’s precious-metal chemistry business can market the associated ruthenium diammine catalysts on an industrial scale.

JSR, Tokyo Electron, and Ibiden, all of Japan, will cooperate to develop lithium-ion capacitors, which are energy-storing devices the firms say can improve the economics of renewable energy. JSR brings advanced materials, Tokyo Electron has system development expertise, and Ibiden offers cell-packaging technologies.

Solazyme, an algal oil start-up, has brought on consumer products heavyweight Unilever and agribusiness giant Bunge as investors in its fourth round of venture funding. In early August, Solazyme reported raising $52 million in the round, which it will use for technology development and commercialization.

Piramal Healthcare will pay $20 million to fellow Indian firm Cipla to acquire the rights to its “i-pill” day-after contraceptive. Effective within 72 hours of unprotected sex, the pill contains the progestogen active ingredient levonorgestrel.

Bend Research has added intermediate-scale hot-melt extrusion equipment suitable for development-stage drug compounds. Hot-melt extrusion can produce solid dispersions with good solubility. With three extruders available, the company can now supply customers with solid-dosage forms for small-scale development through clinical trials.

AstraZeneca has enlisted Indian generics firm Aurobindo Pharma to supply solid dosage and sterile pharmaceutical products for emerging markets. The pact includes anti-infective, cardiovascular, and central nervous system (CNS) drugs. Last year, Pfizer licensed an array of cardiovascular and CNS drugs from the Indian firm.

Carbogen Amcis, the Swiss pharmaceutical chemical firm, and Ireland’s EirGen Pharma, a specialist in high-potency drug manufacturing, have formed a partnership to manufacture solid oral-dose products for cancer treatment.

DSM will provide manufacturing services to PolyTherics, a British developer of PEGylated pharmaceutical proteins. At its plant in Capua, Italy, DSM will scale up and manufacture PolyTherics’ lead product, a PEGylated version of interferon-α.