Business Roundup

Protex International, a French specialty chemical firm, has acquired the contract manufacturer Greenfield Manufacturing, in Saratoga Springs, New York, for an undisclosed sum. Greenfield’s products include performance coatings and fuel additives.

TE H2, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and EREN Groupe, in collaboration with Austrian electricity firm Verbund, has signed an agreement with the Republic of Tunisia to study a green hydrogen project in that country for markets in central Europe. The project would initially produce 200,000 metric tons per year of hydrogen.

Claros Technologies has raised $22 million from investors to accelerate development of its ultraviolet-photocatalytic method for destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The technology is based on research from the University of Minnesota.

Asahi Kasei will pay just over $1 billion to acquire Calliditas Therapeutics, a Swedish firm that markets Tarpeyo, a treatment for the rare kidney disease immunoglobulin A nephropathy. Asahi aims to grow its drug business.

AkzoNobel will close its coatings plants in Groot- Ammers, the Netherlands; Cork, Ireland; and Lusaka, Zambia. The firm says that it will make more cuts by the end of 2026.

PPG Industries will spend $300 million to boost capacity for automotive paints and coatings. The investment includes a new plant in Tennessee and expansions in Ohio and Juan del Rio, Mexico.

Eurofins CDMO Alphora, a Canadian contract development and manufacturing firm, has expanded its drug product analytical services laboratory in Mississauga, Ontario. Additions include glove box systems, a high-performance liquid chromatography suite, new stability chambers, and gas chromatography.

Lucy Therapeutics, of Waltham, Massachusetts, has raised $12.5 million to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as for Rett syndrome. The company focuses on creating what it calls “knowledge maps” to understand what underlies complex disorders and on developing mitochondrial small-molecule treatments.