Business Roundup

Solaria, a California photovoltaic design and manufacturing start-up, has raised $45 million in a financing round led by CMEA Capital. Solaria claims it can make crystalline silicon solar cells that require 50% less silicon thanks to a proprietary optical front cover.

Dow Chemical will close a plant in Tarragona, Spain, that produces XLA fiber, a spandexlike polyethylene monofilament made with Dow’s single-site catalyst technology. The facility, which opened in 2004, will run for another six to 18 months, Dow says. It plans to explore alternative uses for the plant.

Arch Chemicals has opened a laboratory in Osaka dedicated to antifouling biocides for marine paints. Arch says the lab will further development of self-polishing biocides and coatings for aquaculture nets.

Lanxess has opened a $6 million synthetic rubber research laboratory at its site in La Wantzenau, France. Rubber-related R&D in Germany has been moved to the site, which also houses the world’s largest plant for nitrile-butadiene rubber, Lanxess says.

Biotage is acquiring extraction and evaporation product lines from Caliper Life Sciences for $16.5 million. Biotage says the businesses, which had sales of $9.5 million last year, take it deeper into the sample preparation market and introduce it to customers outside the drug industry.

Dow Venture Capital, the venture arm of Dow Chemical, led a second round of funding for Clean Filtration Technologies and invested $3 million of the $3.5 million raised. CFT has developed a metal membrane for primary treatment of drinking, waste, and process water to reduce total suspended solids.

MP Biomedicals will cooperate with the Russian Corp. of Nanotechnologies, known as Rusnano, in the field of nanobiotechnology. MP, a California-based lab products company, says the partners will advance research of personal pharmacogenetic treatments and antiaging products.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, a Canadian biotech with RNAi delivery technology, plans to go public. The company expects to initiate the process for listing on NASDAQ in the next few months. Tekmira has become a partner of choice for companies developing RNAi-based therapeutics, most recently sealing a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb.