Business Roundup

Elementis will sell its chrome chemical business to Yildirim Group in a deal valued at $170 million. The business, which had sales of $171 million last year, is the only chromium chemical producer in North America.

Braskem CEO Roberto Simões is stepping down at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Roberto Bischoff, who was with the Brazilian chemical maker from 1979 to 2019.

Keliber says it is preparing to start construction on a $600 million facility in Finland that it expects to produce 15,000 metric tons per year of lithium hydroxide. The company also plans to open a lithium mine nearby.

Honeywell and Egypt’s Environ Adapt for Recycling Industries have signed an agreement to develop a plastics recycling plant in Egypt. It would use Honeywell’s Upcycle pyrolysis technology.

TotalEnergies will build a plant in Carling, France, that makes polypropylene compounds for the auto industry with up to 100% recycled plastic content. Total bought Synova, a French polypropylene recycler, in 2019.

AstraZeneca has licensed C4X Discovery Holdings’ NRF2 activator program in a deal worth up to $402 million. Activating NFR2, a transcription factor, may help with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the companies say.

Novo Nordisk plans to spend $750 million to expand active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing in Bagsværd, Denmark. The project includes the construction of a new plant at the site.

Full-Life Technologies, a radiotherapeutics firm, has agreed to buy the radiopharmaceutical company Focus-X Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $245 million. The purchase will add two drugs to Full-Life’s pipeline that are close to the clinic, the firms say.