Business Roundup

Vantage Specialty Chemicals has acquired Leuna-Tenside, a German specialty surfactant producer, from its private equity owners. Based in Chicago, Vantage is owned by the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.

Perstorp, a Swedish producer of specialty chemicals, has sold its biodiesel and glycerin business to a Swedish investor and a member of the business’s management team. The business, now called Adesso BioProducts, includes a site in Fredrikstad, Norway.

MFG Chemical, a specialty chemical maker, is undertaking a multimillion-dollar upgrade at its plant in Pasadena, Texas, which it acquired last year. By the first quarter of next year, the company plans to install two new reactors, one of which is 75,000 L.

AbbVie and Mission Therapeutics are linking to develop deubiquitylating enzyme inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Modulating the enzymes could keep misfolded proteins from accumulating in the brain, the partners say.

Arkema’s Malaysian subsidiary has signed a three-year research partnership with Monash University Malaysia. The goal is to develop enzymes that replace chemical catalysts for thiochemical production.

Antios Therapeutics has raised $25 million in series A financing to pursue a cure for hepatitis B. It was launched by former executives of the hepatitis drug developers Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead Sciences) and Idenix (acquired by Merck & Co.).

Spectro Scientific, a maker of fluid analysis instruments and software, has been acquired by the instrument maker Ametek for $190 million. Spectro has annual sales of about $50 million.

Biogen and HitGen have signed a deal under which the latter will use DNA-encoded small-molecule libraries to discover drug leads. HitGen says its libraries include encoded syntheses for more than 300 billion compounds.