Business Roundup

Toray Industries, a Japanese carbon-fiber maker, and German car maker Daimler are setting up a joint venture in Esslingen, Germany, to make carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic auto parts. The firms say the venture will start mass-producing components for passenger vehicles in 2012.

Celanese has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese synthesis gas supplier Wison to supply feedstocks to Celanese’s proposed ethanol plants in China. Celanese plans to build one or two 400,000-metric-ton-per-year coal-derived ethanol plants, based on a proprietary technology.

DSM has signed an agreement with Russia’s KuibyshevAzot (KA) to make engineering plastic compounds in Russia and sell engineering plastics in that country and others in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Additionally, DSM is licensing cyclohexane technology to KA, which will use it to expand its Togliatti, Russia, caprolactam plant.

Chemtura has formed an Italy-based agrochemicals joint venture called ISEM with the Italian firm Isagro to develop and commercialize new herbicides and fungicides. Chemtura will pay $20 million to Isagro, which is contributing the herbicide orthosulfamuron and the fungicide valifenalate as well as two additional active ingredients to the venture.

Agilent Technologies has agreed to acquire A2 Technologies, a Danbury, Conn.-based maker of portable Fourier transform infrared spectrometers. Financial details were not disclosed. Agi­lent says A2 will bolster the spectroscopy businesses it acquired last May in the $1.5 billion acquisition of Varian.

Frutarom, an Israel-based flavor ingredients maker, has signed an agreement to acquire East Anglian Food Ingredients for $4.8 million. England-based East Anglian has annual sales of $8.4 million and 36 employees.

Teva Pharmaceutical has upped its stake in Rockville, Md.-based Rexahn Pharmaceuticals to 6.29% because of progress in the biotech firm’s cancer drug candidate RX-3117. Teva’s $3.95 million investment will support the preclinical development of RX-3117, an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase that is expected to enter clinical trials this year.

Pfizer will use Theraclone Sciences’ technology to discover monoclonal antibodies against four targets relevant in infectious disease and oncology. Seattle-based Theraclone could rack 
up $632 million in research funding and milestone payments as drug candidates move toward commercialization.