Business Roundup

Lubrizol and the Cleveland Clinic will collaborate to develop products for medical devices. In August, Lubrizol bought Vesta, a Franklin, Wis.-based maker of silicone components, thermoplastic tubing, and devices used in cardiology and urology.

Kuraray will spend over $65 million to increase by 45%, up to 35,000 metric tons, its annual production capacity for ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) in Antwerp, Belgium. EVOH has gas-barrier properties that make it suitable for use in food packaging and plastic fuel tanks.

Huntsman Corp. will spend $100 million to double polyetheramine capacity on Jurong Island, Singapore, to 50,000 metric tons per year. The company says the project, to be completed in the second half of 2016, will include backward integration to polyethers.

Evonik Industries plans to increase capacity for superabsorbent polymers by 7%, up to 610,000 metric tons per year. The project will involve debottleneckings across its plants, with emphasis on two sites in Germany.

Solenis, the former Ashland water treatment chemicals business, has acquired Clearwater Specialties, a maker of specialty chemicals used in the manufacture of tissue and paper towels. Solenis was formed in August 2014 following a private equity buyout.

Sanofi has partnered with Lebanon, N.H.-based Adimab to develop bispecific antibodies. In exchange for an undisclosed up-front fee and research funding, Adimab will use its discovery platform to identify antibodies or bispecific antibodies against multiple targets.

Synta Pharmaceuticals is cutting roughly 20% of its workforce as part of an overhaul of its operations. The Lexington, Mass.-based biotech firm will focus its resources on its Hsp90 inhibitor ganetespib, in Phase III studies for lung cancer, and other molecules emerging from its Hsp90 drug conjugate platform.

Novo Nordisk plans to spin off its information technology (IT) services division, NNIT, within the next two months via an initial public offering. NNIT provides IT support services to life sciences, finance, and general businesses, as well as public sectors.

GlaxoSmithKline has acquired the stake it doesn’t already own in GlycoVaxyn, a Swiss vaccine biopharmaceutical company, for $190 million. GlycoVaxyn has developed a biological conjugation platform that might be applied to prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for bacterial diseases.