Business Roundup

Arkema has acquired the Italian organic peroxides formulator Oxido for an undisclosed sum. Arkema says the purchase of Oxido, which has annual sales of about $22 million, increases its network of organic peroxide plants to 12.

Braskem has signed a six-month extension to its naphtha contract with Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras. Braskem, which needs naphtha to make ethylene, was facing contract expiration at the end of February (C&EN, Feb. 23, page 22).

PotashCorp has agreed to purchase a 9.5% stake in Fertilizantes Heringer, a Brazilian maker and distributor of fertilizers, for $55.7 million. PotashCorp sees Heringer as an outlet for the output of its New Brunswick, Canada, potash facility, which is being expanded.

DowAksa, a joint venture between Turkey’s Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii and Dow Chemical, will collaborate on carbon fiber composite technology with Deakin University’s Carbon Nexus research center. The $34 million Carbon Nexus opened last year near Melbourne, Australia.

Ferro has paid $5.5 million to acquire TherMark Holdings, which uses lasers to permanently fuse marking materials to metals, ceramics, and other hard surfaces. Ferro has long supplied TherMark with marking materials.

Solvay has licensed encapsulation technology from U.K.-based Revolymer. Initially, Solvay plans to use the technology to encapsulate germ- and odor-killing organic peroxides for sale to laundry- and dishwashing-tablet makers. But Solvay also plans to use the technology in veterinary and health care applications.

Baxter will acquire the German biotech firm SuppreMol in a deal worth roughly $225 million. The deal brings Baxter a pipeline of biologic immunoregulatory therapies for treating autoimmune and allergic diseases. It includes SM101, which has completed early Phase II studies in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Novartis’s operations in Japan have been suspended for two weeks by Japanese health officials over the firm’s failure to report in a timely fashion more than 3,000 cases of adverse effects experienced by Japanese patients who used the company’s drugs. Novartis apologized, noting that its failure did not jeopardize patients’ health.

Sanofi’s former CEO, Christopher Viehbacher, has joined PureTech Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on commercializing innovative research. Viehbacher will take a seat on PureTech’s board, joining veteran drug research leaders from Pfizer, Merck & Co., and MIT.