Business Roundup

Kemira is investing nearly $35 million to expand capacity for polyacrylamide used in enhanced oil recovery. The company expects the expansion, which will occur at its Botlek, Netherlands, facility, will be completed in early 2019.

Cabot Corp. will acquire Tech Blend, a Canadian producer of black color concentrates for plastics, for $64 million. Cabot says the firm will complement the black concentrate plants it already operates in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Evonik Industries will expand capacity for the bleaching agent hydrogen peroxide at four of its European sites in response to increased demand from customer sectors including paper pulp and textiles. The German firm plans to wrap up the project by mid-2018.

DIC, a Japanese chemical company, has invested $5.8 million in Fermentalg, a French producer of algae for nutrition and health markets. The two firms recently announced a deal to develop food coloring from algae.

Frutarom has agreed to acquire all remaining shares of the nutritional ingredients maker Enzymotec for $210 million. The acquisitive Israeli flavors maker previously paid $42 million for a 19% stake. Enzymotec has $47 million in annual sales and employs 235 people in Israel and the U.S.

DuPont Pioneer has inked a multiyear partnership with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to improve food security crops. DuPont will provide CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology to Danforth scientists working to improve cassava, teff, sorghum, millet, and other crops grown by smallholder farmers.

Sarepta Therapeutics will license CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology from Duke University to develop therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Duke researchers previously used CRISPR to correct mutations in the dystrophin gene of DMD mouse models.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals will codevelop RNA interference drugs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and other liver diseases. Dicerna will get up to $201 million in up-front and milestone payments.