Business Roundup

Eastman Chemical will acquire Inacsa, a Spanish producer of cellulosic yarn. Eastman says the purchase will give it a European site to produce its Naia cellulosic yarn for the apparel market.

BASF and the Russian petrochemical maker Sibur have signed an agreement to jointly develop polymer technologies at Sibur’s new R&D center in Moscow. The partners will use BASF’s plastic additives and focus on designing plastics that are durable and recyclable.

OrionEngineeredCarbonsis expanding capacity for gas-based carbon blacks at its plant in Cologne, Germany. Whereas most carbon black is made from oil, gas blacks are made from natural gas. They have a narrow particle distribution and are used in paints and coatings.

AscendPerformance Materials has expanded its capacity for the chelating agent nitrilotriacetic acid by more than 10%. The firm says the project in Alvin, Texas, is a response to growing demand from industrial cleaning and oil and gas applications.

Catalent has agreed to purchase Bristol-Myers Squibb’s oral solids, biologics, and sterile product manufacturing site in Anagni, Italy. The contract services firm will continue to make drugs at the site for BMS.

Intrexon will receive a $25 million fee for making its cannabinoid yeast-fermentation process available to Surterra Wellness, a cannabis-products firm. Surterra says fermentation will complement conventional farmed cannabis cultivation.

Comet Therapeutics has raised $28.5 million in series A financing to support development of small-molecule drugs that target coenzyme A. CoA is often dysfunctional in rare, genetic metabolic disorders, as well as neurometabolic and immunometabolic diseases.

Sanofi and Google plan to establish a “virtual innovation lab” to change how medicines and health services are delivered. The lab will draw on Sanofi’s biologic innovation and scientific data and Google’s capabilities such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence.