Business Roundup

A. Schulman has abandoned its $855 million bid to acquire Ferro Corp. following Ferro’s rejection of the offer. Schulman CEO Joseph M. Gingo told stock analysts last week that his firm “has decided to look elsewhere for acquisition opportunities.”

Eastman Chemical is building a plant to produce Therminol 66 hydrogenated terphenyl heat-transfer fluid and other biphenyl-based products in Newport, Wales. The unit, which will expand Eastman’s Therminol 66 capacity by more than 50%, is slated to open in the second half of 2014.

Marrone Bio Innovations has filed documents with the Securities & Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of up to $60 million in stock. Founded in 2006 by scientist Pamela G. Marrone, Marrone makes biopesticides for use against fungi, insects, and mollusks.

DSM has acquired Unitech Industries, a New Zealand-based producer and distributor of nutrient premixes for the human nutrition and pet food markets in Asia. Unitech has about 100 employees and annual sales of close to $40 million, DSM says.

Genentech and En­gland-based Immunocore will jointly develop ImmTACs, bispecific proteins that trigger the immune system to recognize and kill cancer or viral cells. Genentech will pay up to $20 million per program initiated and possibly more than $300 million in milestone payments for each resulting product.

Warp Drive Bio has named Gregory Verdine as CEO, succeeding Alexis Borisy, who will remain on the firm’s board. Verdine, a Harvard chemistry professor, cofounded Warp Drive in 2012 to discover natural product drugs.