Business Concentrates

Ionic liquids fuel start-up

Bioniqs Ltd. has been spun out of England's University of York to develop ionic-liquid-based solvents. Established by York's Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, with support from partners Amaethon and IP2IPO, the company seeks to commercialize research by Neil Bruce and Adam Walker around ionic liquids-salts that are molten at room temperature. Ionic liquids now being developed by Bioniqs incorporate hydromimetic properties, permitting proteins such as enzymes to function in the near absence of water. The company says it can harness this attribute to offer biocatalytic processes to manufacturing industries.

DuPont boosts laminated glass capacity

DuPont has completed projects in Fayetteville, N.C.; Wilmington, Del.; Zlin, Czech Republic; and Ulsan, South Korea, to expand production of interlayer resins used to make laminated glass. The project in Wilmington, for instance, allows designers to incorporate custom images in safety glass. The Korean expansion satisfies Asian demand for polyvinyl butyral interlayer for car windshields.

Schering deals for cancer drug

Germany's Schering and Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Bothel, Wash., have signed an agreement granting Schering an exclusive license to Sonus' Tocosol paclitaxel anticancer product. Schering will take a 15% stake in Sonus and may make up-front, milestone, and royalty payments. According to Schering, Tocosol is currently in a Phase III study for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Schering and Sonus expect to submit a New Drug Application for this indication by the end of 2007.

Rhodia sells silicates unit

Rhodia is selling its silicates plant in Nogent-L'Artaud, France, to the German company Woellner. The site, which produces silicates and metasilicates used in the detergent, construction, and paper industries, employs 65 people and generated sales of some $25 million in 2004. Rhodia says the sale is another step in the trimming of its nonstrategic activities. Woellner, a family-run business, has annual sales of about $120 million in silicates, specialty chemicals, inks, and cosmetics.

BASF cuts back on caffeine

BASF Pharma Chemicals will trim production of pseudoephedrine and caffeine in Minden, Germany. Some 95 jobs, out of a total of 630 at the site, will be lost, mostly through voluntary measures. According to BASF, pseudoephedrine demand is declining due to a change from over-the-counter to prescription status in the U.S., the world's largest market for the product. The main reason for declining caffeine sales, the company adds, is pressure from Asian manufacturers.

Bayer signs on TB treatment

Bayer Healthcare is joining with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development to try to shorten the standard six-month treatment for tuberculosis. The partners will conduct a clinical trial to evaluate whether the substitution of the Bayer antibiotic moxifloxacin for one of the standard TB drugs-ethambutol or isoniazid-speeds up TB therapy. The partners think they can shorten the current treatment regimen, which involves four drugs discovered 40 or more years ago, by two to three months.

Chiron to ship flu vaccine

Chiron has secured approvals from U.S. and U.K. authorities to supply its Flurivin flu vaccine, which is manufactured in the U.K., to the U.S. Chiron says it will not produce as much of the vaccine as it had originally estimated due to delays related to the shutdown of its Liverpool, England, facility last October for remediation. The shutdown resulted in a serious shortfall in vaccine supply for last year's flu season.

China moves for Akzo Nobel

Akzo Nobel is investing $18 million to build two chemical facilities in China. A 10,000-metric-ton-per-year plant will be built in Taixing for polysulfides, the key ingredient in aerospace sealants. It will open in early 2007, the firm says, by which time a plant in Germany will be at maximum capacity. Akzo's Eka Chemicals unit will build a sizing agents plant in Guangzhou. It is set to open near two major paper industry customers in late 2006.

BUSINESS ROUNDUP

MerLion Pharmaceuticals and the National Cancer Institute will collaborate on new cancer treatments, particularly small-molecule inhibitors of the hypoxic signaling pathways. Singapore-based MerLion will perform initial screening and identify candidates.

Lonza has developed a new generation of fluid-bed catalysts for maleic anhydride production. The firm says the catalysts have enabled a 10,000-metric-ton capacity increase at its Scanzoroscate, Italy, maleic anhydride plant, to 60,000 metric tons per year.

Advanced Aromatics will expand its Baytown, Texas, naphthalene plant by 25% in the third quarter of this year. The company says this expansion, its first since 1996, is the result of improved market conditions in the business and the reduction in the number of North American naphthalene producers from five to three.

Daikin Industries' U.S. unit says it plans a multi-million-dollar expansion at its Decatur, Ala., plant for ethylene-perfluoroethylenepropene copolymer. Daikin says it is the only producer of the clear fluoropolymer.

Array BioPharma and Genentech are extending a collaboration on small-molecule drugs for cancer treatment. According to Array, Genentech may provide $50 million for access to its drug discovery platform over the next three years.

Albemarle and high-throughput experimentation company hte have signed a multiyear agreement that extends a two-year pact in refinery catalysts. hte will provide high-throughput hardware, software, and research services to Albemarle.