Business Roundup

Versalis, the chemical arm of Italian energy company ENI, and Algerian state oil company Sonatrach have signed an agreement to carry out joint feasibility studies for an integrated chemical complex in Algeria. The two companies signed a cooperation agreement in November.

Trinseo is selling its 50% interest in the Sumika Styron Polycarbonate joint venture to its partner Sumitomo Chemical. Trinseo will continue to market the output of the Ehime, Japan-based polycarbonate plant.

LiquiGlide has raised $16 million in funding in a venture capital round that included Structure Capital, Valia Investments, Struck Capital, and Pilot Grove. The company is based on technology developed at MIT for creating permanently wet and slippery surface coatings.

Intrexon has agreed to acquire the Maryland-based gene therapy company GenVec in a deal worth about $16 million. Intrexon intends to use GenVec’s adenoviral vector gene delivery technology and regulatory compliant manufacturing in developing therapeutics.

Merck KGaA has teamed with Domain Therapeutics to develop adenosine receptor antagonists and other novel cancer immunotherapies. Although financial details have not been disclosed, Merck will provide Domain with research funding in exchange for the global rights to its next-generation adenosine receptor inhibitors.

Aptuit, a contract research provider, is collaborating with the Molecular Surgical Laboratory of Massachusetts General Hospital in the area of antibiotic resistance. Directed by Laurence Rahme, the lab is working to identify and validate new targets in Gram-negative bacteria.

Enteris BioPharma and ­Sanofi are exploring the possibility of using Enteris’s small-molecule delivery technology to develop an oral formulation of one of Sanofi’s preclinical-stage peptides. Enteris was set up in 2013 around the drug delivery technology of the now-defunct peptide drug firm Unigene Laboratories.

Verily Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, is partnering with Singapore-based Temasek. The Asian investment firm will put $800 million into Verily for a minority stake. Verily is a data-focused developer of life sciences and health care tools and devices.