Business Roundup

SK Geo Centric and Tokuyama are forming a joint venture to produce semiconductor-grade isopropyl alcohol. The partners plan to invest about $100 million to build a plant in Ulsan, South Korea, with an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tons.

ExxonMobil has acquired a 49.9% stake in Biojet, a Norwegian firm that plans to produce biofuels from forestry and wood-based construction waste. Biojet intends to make up to 500 million L of biofuel per year from five facilities in Norway.

AGC Chemicals is expanding at its fluorochemical facility in Thorndale, Pennsylvania. The investments will add to manufacturing, quality control, and office space at the site.

DIC has acquired the Italian adhesive and polymer manufacturer Sapici. The Japanese firm says the purchase provides adhesive ingredients, including ultra-low-monomer polyisocyanates, that have a relatively low environmental impact.

Elessent Clean Technologies is the new name of DuPont Clean Technologies, which DuPont sold to a group of international ­investors at the end of 2021 for $510 million. The business provides refineries with sulfuric acid regeneration services and alkylation technology.

Solvay has signed an agreement with Trillium Renewable Chemicals to develop biobased acrylonitrile as a feedstock for carbon fiber. Trillium is developing a process to make acrylonitrile from renewable raw materials such as glycerin.

Eikon Therapeutics has raised $518 million in a series B funding round. Eikon was launched in May 2021 to use superresolution microscopy to track protein movement in living cells as a starting point for drug discovery.

Biogen has exercised its option to license BIIB115, an antisense oligonucleotide being investigated to treat spinal muscular atrophy, from Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis has received a $60 million payment from Biogen.