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Business

Business Roundup

April 27, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 17

Celanese plans to cut by half the capacity of its acetate tow plant in Lanaken, Belgium, to about 26,000 metric tons per year. The firm cites declining European demand for the fiber, which is used in cigarette filters. Eastman Chemical is closing a similar plant in Workington, England.

Huntsman Corp. will expand specialty amines capacity at its plants in Petfurdo, Hungary, and Conroe, Texas, by about 20% in 2016. Specialty amines are used in polyurethane foams and coatings as well as in lubricants and detergents.

Showa Denko has doubled capacity in Kawasaki, Japan, to make high-purity hydrogen fluoride for the electronics industry. The firm is also building a new HF plant at its Shanghai Showa Electronics Materials affiliate in China. It will start up by the end of this year and have the same capacity as the Kawasaki plant.

Cnano, a producer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes based in Jiangsu, China, has raised $15 million in a third round of venture funding led by GRC SinoGreen Fund. Cnano will use the funds to increase production of the nanotubes, which are used in batteries, materials, and electronics.

Gevo, a maker of biobased isobutyl alcohol, plans a 1-for-15 reverse stock split to increase the price of its stock and allow it to stay on the NASDAQ Stock Market. NASDAQ requires listed companies to keep their stock price above $1.00 a share; although Gevo has struggled with this benchmark, its shares are currently above $2.00.

Eli Lilly & Co. plans to sell its biomanufacturing plant in Vacaville, Calif., which it calls one of the largest U.S. facilities for the bulk production of recombinant microbial-based pharmaceutical ingredients. CBRE Brokerage Services is handling the sale.

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics has expanded a research pact with Genzyme and will provide $14 million toward compounds that fix the misfolded protein in people with the most common CF mutation, F508del. Separately, the foundation provided $5 million to Corbus Pharmaceuticals to support a Phase II study of the anti-inflammatory treatment Resunab.

Innate Pharma will collaborate with Sanofi on anticancer antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Sanofi has the option for a licensing agreement after evaluating Innate’s technology for site-specific payload conjugation to improve ADC pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety.

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