Business Roundup

Praxair has agreed to acquire Alcan's high-purity aluminum business in Mercus, France. The business, which employs about 28 people, makes specialized aluminum used in sputtering targets for the semiconductor and flat-panel-display industries.

Codexis has signed its sixth generic drug development pact, this one with India's Arch Pharmalabs. Codexis will apply its MolecularBreeding technology to the manufacture of an undisclosed active pharmaceutical ingredient by Arch.

BASF will increase capacity for medium-molecular-weight polyisobutene in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by 6,000 metric tons to a total of 18,000 metric tons per year. Work on the expansion is set for completion by the middle of 2007.

Diosynth Biotechnology will produce an antibody that ImmunoGen uses in the manufacture of its huN901-DM1 anticancer compound. Diosynth will undertake technology transfer as well as conduct process and analytical development work related to making the antibody.

Celanese has sold its former acetate plant in Rock Hill, S.C., to Greens of Rock Hill, a real estate developer. Celanese closed the facility earlier this year as part of a plan to consolidate acetate manufacturing.

Pfizer says the U.K.'s high court has upheld the exclusivity of the main patent covering atorvastatin, the active ingredient in the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. Ranbaxy, the Indian firm that challenged Pfizer, says it will appeal.

Yara is selling its formates business to Addcon, a German feed preservative maker. The formates business, which has a book value of about $30 million, makes formic acid derivatives for grass and fish preservation, feed additives, deicing, and oil-field applications.