Business Roundup

Dorf Ketal Chemicals has acquired intellectual property from Johnson Matthey to produce Vertec brand polyester catalysts and Snapcure polyurethane catalysts and cure promoters. The company plans to produce the catalysts at its Mundra plant in western India. In 2010, Dorf Ketal acquired DuPont’s specialty catalysts business.

Lanxess is planning a 20,000-metric-ton-per-year expansion of neodymium-polybutadiene (Nd-PBR) and solution styrene-butadiene rubber capacity at its site in Orange, Texas. The $14 million project, slated for completion by third-quarter 2012, is in addition to a 15,000-metric-ton Nd-PBR expansion it recently completed at the site.

Solutia has been awarded a contract to supply its Therminol VP-1 heat transfer fluid to the Solana solar power project. The $2 billion project, under construction in Gila Bend, Ariz., is expected to be the world’s largest parabolic trough solar plant when it opens in 2013.

Lonza has licensed a probiotic Lactobacillus strain developed by Berlin-based Organobalance. The strain depletes the stomach of Helicobacter pylori, a common cause of ulcers. Lonza says the strain expands its nutrition portfolio, which includes amino acids such as carnitine and vitamins such as niacin.

Warner Chilcott will eliminate 500 jobs in a restructuring of its European operations. The move follows the loss of patent protection last year for its osteoporosis drug Actonel. The drug accounted for 70% of the company’s Western European revenues.

Circassia has raised $98 million in its latest round of financing. The cash influx, the second largest by a private European biotech firm this year, will be used to fund Phase III studies of Circassia’s cat and ragweed allergy therapies, as well as Phase II trials of its dust mite and grass allergy T-cell vaccines.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Precision NanoSystems will jointly develop small lipid nanoparticles using microfluidics technology. At approximately 20 nm in size, the LNPs will be designed to improve biodistribution of RNAi drugs.

Genmab and Seattle Genetics have signed a second antibody-drug conjugate research deal. The companies will collaborate on using Seattle Genetics’ ADC technology with HuMax-CD74, an antibody that Genmab is developing as an anticancer agent.