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Business

Business Roundup

August 13, 2012 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 90, Issue 33

Huntsman Corp. has initiated engineering design studies for an expansion of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate capacity in Geismar, La. The company says it is studying “several options for expansion” of the MDI plant and thus hasn’t released details regarding the size or cost of the project.

Invista Performance Technologies has acquired intellectual property related to making purified terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate from the Spanish PET producer La Seda de Barcelona. Previously, the IP and licensing rights belonged to a joint venture between the two companies.

Synalloy will produce a new line of defoamers for Ashland at its Cleveland, Tenn., chemical plant. Synalloy invested $500,000 in the plant to support the new business. It expects the contract-manufacturing agreement to generate annual sales of up to $18 million.

BASF; Heidelberg, Germany-based print technology firm Heidelberger Druckmaschinen; and the Technical University of Darmstadt have agreed to continue a joint research project started in 2009 to develop novel materials and printing processes for making organic printed electronics. The partners plan to work together for the next two years to commercialize processes and nanobased functional materials they have developed.

Piramal Imaging has engaged IBA Molecular to manufacture and distribute florbetaben for U.S. and European markets. The radiopharmaceutical is now in development to detect amyloid-ß plaque in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Piramal acquired florbetaben when it bought Bayer HealthCare’s molecular-imaging R&D portfolio earlier this year.

Marina Biotech has entered a $1 million nonexclusive licensing deal with Novartis. The Swiss drug firm will use Marina’s conformationally restricted nucleotide technology to develop single- and double-stranded oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Boehringer Ingelheim will manufacture gevokizumab, an interleukin-1ß allosteric modulating antibody, for the firms Servier and Xoma. The partners are testing the antibody in Phase III trials to treat noninfectious uveitis.

Astellas Pharma is closing its Durham, N.C.-based urology research subsidiary, Urogenix, and will transfer projects to its Tsukuba Research Center in Japan. Astellas acquired the U.S. site, which employs 13 scientists and staff, from Dynogen Pharmaceuticals in 2006.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals will reduce its workforce by 20% after decisions to stop developing the cancer drug saridegib and to restructure alliances with Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm currently has about 190 employees.

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