Business Roundup

BUSINESS ROUNDUP

BASF has set up a subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that will act as a regional back office providing support services in finance, accounting, information technology, and human resources. Employing 130 staff initially, it will be staffed by 400 people in 2007.

Huntsman Corp. will close its propylene oxide/methyl tert-butyl ether plant in Port Neches, Texas, for about 48 days for unscheduled maintenance and repairs. The firm expects the shutdown to affect margins by about $30 million in the third quarter.

BASF will increase capacity for dimethylaminopropylamine by 65% to 35,000 metric tons per year at its Ludwigshafen, Germany, plant. The firm says it is the world's largest maker of the amine, an intermediate used to make mild amphoteric surfactants.

Cerexa has begun operations after being spun out from Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in June. Cerexa, focused on hospital-based anti-infective therapies, has also closed a $50 million round of initial financing.

Zyden Gentec, an Indian contract research company, has signed an agreement with Germany's Allessa Chemie. Zyden will develop technologies and new chemical entities for Allessa, while Allessa will represent the Indian firm in Europe and North America.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has committed $11.8 million over the next three years to support biomedical research at West Virginia University. The firm agreed to the funding in 2000 as part of its settlement of diet drug litigation.

InnoCentive has signed partnerships with three more universities in China and four more in Russia. Researchers at these institutions are now available to offer solutions to scientific problems that are posted on Innocentive's website.