Business Roundup

Amyris says it has successfully developed a fermentation route to an unnamed, “natural-like” sweetener that is low calorie, sustainably sourced, and less expensive than sugar. The company plans industrial production by 2018 and expects to achieve sweetener sales of $100 million by 2020.

Callery has named Harry Rathore as its CEO. Rathore founded the pharmaceutical chemical company Polyorganix and has worked for Lonza and Alcami. Callery was formerly BASF’s inorganic specialties business.

Tokyo Chemical Industry has licensed rights to organic semiconductors invented by researchers at Kaunas University of Technology and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL). TCI plans to develop the semiconductors for use in solar cells.

Elevance Renewable Sciences, a biobased chemical firm, has named Karl Schoene as its new CEO; former CEO Tony Parnell will become executive chair. Schoene will guide the firm as it works to develop new products and increase sales from its joint venture biorefinery in Indonesia.

Alcami will spend $5 million to expand filling and freeze-drying capabilities at its drug services facility in Charleston, S.C. The company says the project will create at least 30 new jobs.

GlaxoSmithKline will spend $139 million to expand its biopharmaceutical facility in Rockville, Md. The investment supports growing demand for Benlysta, a treatment for lupus. The site is also expected to produce a subcutaneous form of the drug, currently under FDA review.

Takeda Pharmaceutical and Cleveland’s Harrington Discovery Institute have formed a rare-disease drug discovery partnership. The venture, the first with a major drug company for Harrington, will support Takeda’s programs in areas including oncology, gastroenterology, and central nervous system disorders.