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Business

Business Roundup

October 13, 2008 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 86, Issue 41

Momentive Performance Materials has acquired assets of Osram Sylvania's semiconductor and lighting quartz business for an undisclosed sum. Momentive, formerly GE Silicones, says the deal builds upon its leading position in the quartz business.

ExxonMobil Research & Engineering is teaming up with rocket engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to develop next-generation technology for gasifying coal, coke, and biomass. The companies are interested in boosting the efficiency and reducing the cost of making synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Blackstone Group has completed its $600 million acquisition of a 20% stake in state-owned China National BlueStar, which focuses on chemical products and new materials (C&EN, Sept. 17, 2007, page 8). Two Blackstone executives, Antony Leung and Ben Jenkins, will join BlueStar's board.

DuPont and Smart Fuel Cell have won the Department of Defense's $1 million Wearable Power Prize for their M-25 portable fuel cell. Weighing less than 9 lb, the M-25 cell reacts methanol with oxygen to deliver an average of 20 W of power for 96 hours.

DSM's anti-infectives business will close its clavulanic acid production site in Sweden by late 2009. The shutdown will cost DSM $14 million and eliminate about 100 jobs. Clavulanic acid is a β-lactamase inhibitor used in combating the resistance of bacteria to the broad-spectrum antibiotic amoxicillin.

Novozymes has been awarded a $12.3 million contract from the Department of Energy to improve the enzymes necessary to produce cellulosic ethanol. Novozymes, which will match the DOE funding, will try for a twofold increase in the efficiency of enzymes used to convert biomass to ethanol.

Sanofi Pasteur has licensed a series of vaccine adjuvants from 3M Drug Delivery Systems for an undisclosed sum. 3M says its toll-like receptor (TLR) immune-response modifier compounds are much smaller than traditional TLRs, making them easier to formulate, deliver, and manufacture.

AtheroGenics has filed for bankruptcy after accumulating debt that prevented it from effectively developing its lead compound, AGI-1067, which has shown promise in one Phase III study in diabetes. The company expects to sell itself or its assets during the bankruptcy proceedings, with any proceeds going to its creditors and shareholders.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Advanced Life Sciences will develop the oral antibiotic cethromycin in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, in a deal that could bring ALS $100 million in milestone and regulatory payments. ALS will retain rights to cethromycin in the rest of the world except Japan, where Abbott Laboratories has rights.

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