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Business

Business Roundup

November 8, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 45

Avantor Performance Materials, the former Mallinckrodt Baker, has agreed to acquire RFCL Ltd. from ICICI Venture Funds. Avantor calls RFCL a leading Indian supplier of laboratory reagents and consumables. Avantor’s current assets are all in the U.S. and Europe.

Invista has licensed its butanediol technology to China’s Markor Chemical. The agreement covers manufacturing and formulation technology for a 100,000-metric-ton-per-year butanediol plant in Korla, China.

Lanxess will expand capacity for ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer at its plant in Dormagen, Germany. The project will boost output by 30% to 15,000 metric tons per year by late 2012. Demand is increasing for flame-retardant, halogen-free wire and cable sheathing made from the polymer, Lanxess says.

Eastman Chemical will increase cellulose triacetate capacity in Kingsport, Tenn., by 70% by first-quarter 2012. Cellulose triacetate is used in polarizer films for liquid-crystal displays. The company says increased demand in LCDs will more than offset ebbing photographic markets.

Dow Corning has named Robert D. Hansen, a 28-year veteran of the firm, as its president. Stephanie A. Burns remains chairman and CEO. Burns says Dow Corning’s growth calls for expanded executive leadership.

ATMI has acquired full ownership of the Belgian biotech firm Artelis. Since 2006, Artelis and ATMI LifeSciences have partnered to develop bioprocesses and technologies for cell-culture research and manufacturing, including disposable bioreactors.

Incyte has scored a $50 million milestone payment from Novartis by starting a Phase III clinical trial for INCB18424 to treat polycythemia vera, a rare disease marked by the overproduction of red blood cells. In December, Novartis paid $210 million for the compound, which is already in Phase III studies to treat 
myelofibrosis.

Vertichem, a Canadian biobased chemicals start-up, has raised $3 million from investors to develop its technology for making lignin, xylose, and cellulose from hardwood waste materials.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has given the Chinese drug company Simcere exclusive rights to develop and commercialize BMS-817378, a preclinical small-molecule oncology drug, in China. Initial drug development in the “innovative strategic partnership” will be performed by Simcere, BMS says.

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