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Business

Business Roundup

February 28, 2011 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 89, Issue 9

Valspar has acquired Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes, a Brazil-based maker of powder coatings used on appliances and other industrial products. Isocoat had 2010 sales of $34 million.

Bruker has signed an agreement to buy Michrom Bioresources, an Auburn, Calif.-based supplier of liquid chromatography instruments and consumables for proteomic researchers. Bruker says that Michrom’s business, which had revenues of $3 million in 2010, will complement its mass spectrometry product line.

Rhodia has taken an interest in a venture capital fund that expects to raise about $200 million for investments in energy, advanced materials, and environmental start-up firms. The fund, to be managed by Paris-based Aster Capital, includes other investors: power components maker Alstom and energy management specialist Schneider Electric.

Amyris will supply sugar-derived farnesene to Givaudan, which plans to develop it as a building block for a proprietary fragrance ingredient. Last year, Amyris agreed to collaborate with Firmenich on a biobased flavor and fragrance ingredient to be manufactured by Amyris (C&EN, Nov. 15, 2010, page 19).

LanzaTech, a New Zealand renewable chemicals and fuels start-up, has signed an agreement with South Korean conglomerate Posco. LanzaTech will use its gas fermentation technology to convert flue gases from Posco’s steel-making facility to ethanol and other products.

Vical, a San Diego-based biopharmaceuticals firm, has extended its pact with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center for the development of vaccines against infectious diseases. Vical, which has already developed a DNA vaccine against the H1N1 flu virus that is undergoing Phase I testing, will now work on applying its technology to combat new pathogens in the early stages of ­outbreaks.

Monsanto has acquired Divergence, a privately held St. Louis-based biotechnology research firm. Monsanto says it plans to use Divergence’s expertise in parasitic nematodes to develop novel seed nematicide treatments.

Carbogen Amcis, a pharmaceuticals contract manufacturing firm, is shedding about 60 jobs as part of a restructuring of its operations in Switzerland, where it has roughly 350 workers. Three sites—Bubendorf, Aarau, and Hunzenschwil—will be affected by the changes, which Carbogen says are necessary as a result of delayed effects of the financial crisis and the strong Swiss franc. Carbogen is owned by India’s Dishman Group.

Viropro, an Irvine, Calif.-based contract manufacturing firm, has agreed to pay $21 million for Alpha Biologics, a Malaysia-based process development and biomanufacturing firm. Viropro gains a mammalian cell production facility in Penang Science Park, in Malaysia, that U.S. regulators will inspect in the coming months.

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