Business Roundup

Arkema will reduce its 2019 dividend by 12% in response to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. The French company says it intends to return the amount to shareholders “when a return to normality takes shape.”

Koch Separation Solutions is increasing by 50% its capacity to produce Puron-brand reinforced hollow-fiber membrane. The membrane is used in water and wastewater treatment to filter out solids and pathogens, the firm says.

Solvay is withdrawing its 2020 earnings guidance, citing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Belgian firm says it will maintain its 2019 dividend recommendation but cut capital spending.

Ford Motor is working with Thermo Fisher Scientific to produce COVID-19 collection kits at its Kansas City, Missouri, assembly plant. Ford and the instrument firm plan to adapt glass-vial manufacturing machinery to make plastic vials used in drive-through test collection.

Battery Energy Storage Technology has launched with organic redox flow battery technology licensed from the University of Southern California. Two scientists with the firm ­recently published on a flow battery for energy storage based on iron sulfate and ­anthraquinone disulfonic acid.

PharmaBlock Sciences has opened a technology center adjacent to its pharmaceutical chemical plant in Shangyu, China. The company says the 3,000 m² facility will develop green and efficient chemistry techniques, including flow chemistry, micropacked bed reaction, and biocatalysis.

Legend Biotech, a developer of cell therapies for cancer treatment, has raised $150 million in series A funding. The firm also recently filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

Tango Therapeutics has raised $60 million in series B financing. The Cambridge, Massachusetts–based firm launched in 2017 with the goal of using the genetic principle of synthetic lethality to discover cancer therapies.