Business Roundup

Solutia plans to shutter its rubber chemicals manufacturing operation in Cologne, Germany. It will continue to manufacture tetramethylthiuram disulfide and tetraethylthiuram disulfide at the plant only through the first quarter of 2010 for Taminco, which has acquired customer contracts.

BASF is selling its Clear Lake, Texas, surfactants plant to a subsidiary of Gulf Bayport Chemicals. About 15 employees will move to the new firm, which will toll-manufacture specialty surfactants for BASF. Gulf Bayport owns a former Lonza chemical plant in Bayport, Texas.

Bayer CropScience has signed a research an agreement with GVK Biosciences. The Hyderabad, India-based contract research firm will help Bayer speed up the search for new crop protection ingredients.

Seattle Genetics and Astellas Pharma’s Agensys unit have expanded an antibody-drug conjugate collaboration that was launched in January 2007. Under the new deal, Agensys will pay $12 million for the right to develop additional drugs using Seattle Genetics’ conjugate technology.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals signed a collaboration agreement with South Korea’s Handok Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of apaziquone in the country. Handok will make up-front payments and potential milestone payments of up to $19 million. The drug is currently in Phase III clinical trials for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer.

NexMed, a New Jersey-based developer of drug delivery technology, has acquired Bio-Quant, a San Diego-based contract research firm. The purchase of cash-rich Bio-Quant will enable NexMed to comply with the listing qualifications for the NASDAQ stock exchange. Bio-Quant shareholders will receive 4 million shares of NexMed stock and a promissory note for $12.1 million, due at the end of 2010.

The European Investment Fund, a European Union body that invests in small- and medium-sized enterprises, has committed $40 million to a fund that will invest in early-stage pharmaceutical and medical technology firms in the Nordic region. Swedish investment firm Karolinska Development will manage the fund and make investments over a four-year period.

Soligenix has received a $9.4 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases that will support a new academic-industry consortium charged with developing thermostable vaccines. As part of the project, Soligenix says it has executed an option agreement with the University of Colorado, a consortium member, covering technology for vaccines that can maintain stability at elevated temperatures.