Business Roundup

Nutrien is weighing strategic options for its 50% ownership stake in Profertil, a fertilizer joint venture in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, with the energy company YPF. Completed in 2000, Profertil has the capacity to make 1.3 million metric tons of urea per year.

Solenis is working with the synthetic biology start-up PhaBuilder to develop polyhydroxyalkanoates as a coating for paper packaging. Most single-use paper food service items use polyethylene as a waterproof coating.

Belharra Therapeutics has partnered with Sanofi to discover small-molecule treatments for immunological diseases. The deal is worth $40 million in up-front and near-term milestone payments. Belharra uses noncovalent molecular probes to scan proteins for binding pockets.

Mitsubishi Chemical Group is expanding its capacity for semiconductor photoresists in Kitakyushu, Japan. The updated facility will make materials suitable for both argon fluoride and extreme ultraviolet etching.

DSM-Firmenich plans to sell its yeast extract business to Lesaffre for about $129 million. DSM-Firmenich, which is trimming its portfolio, said in January that it is considering the sale of its animal nutrition business.

Sterling Pharma Solutions plans to spend $3 million in Germantown, Wisconsin, to scale up output of antibody-drug conjugates for customers. The company will install isolator modules to take toxin linker manufacturing to kilogram scale.

Syngenta will use an artificial intelligence model from InstaDeep that has been trained on genetic information from crops. The model will help Syngenta design higher-performing seeds for farmers.