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Business

BUSINESS ROUNDUP

February 18, 2008 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 86, Issue 7

Dainippon Ink & Chemicals will spend about $33 million to construct a 30,000-metric-ton-per-year printing inks plant in India. The plant will be located in the special economic zone of Dahej in the state of Gujarat and is scheduled to open in July 2009.

DuPont and BP are expanding their partnership for the biofuel 1-butanol to encompass 2-butanol and isobutanol. The firms say these higher octane isomers are of increased interest in the fuels industry.

Albemarle, a maker of flame retardants for polymers, has signed a worldwide license agreement covering magnesium hydroxide and its use in flame-retardant applications with Kyowa Chemical Industry of Japan. Kyowa is a producer of synthetic hydrotalcite and magnesium hydroxide.

Sumitomo Chemical and A-to-Z Textile Mills' joint venture, Vector Health International, has inaugurated another manufacturing plant for Sumitomo's insecticide-impregnated antimalaria mosquito nets in Arusha, Tanzania. Employing 1,200 people, the plant brings the partners' payroll in Tanzania to 3,200.

Air Liquide has won two contracts to install large oxygen plants. It will install two 3,000-metric-ton-per-day units at Shenhua Ningxia Coal in China to supply oxygen needed to produce propylene and methanol via coal gasification. Posco, the South Korean steel producer, will get two 3,700-metric-ton plants, the largest ever installed at a steel company.

The University of Pittsburgh has licensed fluorescent-sensor technology, developed in the chemistry lab of Kazunori Koide, to Luminos, a start-up assay kit developer. Luminos plans to develop kits to detect palladium contamination in drugs.

Metabolix and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis will collaborate in the development of oilseed crops for bioplastic and biofuel production. Metabolix says the coproduction of biofuels and bioplastics "promises to improve the economics of this crop industry."

Quotient BioResearch, a British company specializing in analytical and safety evaluation, has acquired BioDynamics Research, a provider of metabolism, bioanalytical, and radiochemistry services to the drug and biotech industries. BioDynamics is the fourth acquisition for Quotient, which was established in early 2007.

Sanofi-Aventis and Dyax have sealed a licensing pact that gives Sanofi rights to Dyax's fully human monoclonal antibody DX-2240, as well as access to the company's antibody phage display technology. Dyax will receive $25 million in 2008, but the deal could be worth up to $500 million if the first five antibody candidates, including DX-2240, reach the market.

Biocon is spending $44 million to buy 70% of AxiCorp, a German pharmaceutical distributor specializing in generic biotech products. Bangalore, India-based Biocon says its stake in the German firm will help it distribute biosimilar drugs such as the recombinant human insulin it produces in India.

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