Business Roundup

Nova Chemicals and Enerkem will collaborate on technology to make ethylene from municipal solid waste. Enerkem runs a plant in Edmonton, Alberta, that gasifies the waste and converts the resulting synthesis gas—a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen—into methanol and ethanol.

Purdue University has licensed rare-earths extraction and purifying technology based on ligand-assisted chromatography to Hasler Ventures. The process is better for the environment than conventional acid-based methods used to produce the important electronic materials, Purdue says.

DSM has agreed to make 2.8 million nose swabs for COVID-19 test kits in the Netherlands within 3 months. It took the firm 2 weeks to establish a swab production system on Dutch soil following a call for help by the Dutch government.

Ecoinno, a Hong Kong–based start-up, has received a $6 million investment from the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund to make a biodegradable composite out of leftovers from processing bamboo and sugar cane. The heat-, oil-, and water-resistant material can be used for disposable food containers.

Sumitomo Chemical will move its intellectual property management to Anaqua’s AOX software. The Japanese chemical firm has patents in petrochemicals, organic chemicals, electronic chemicals, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services will provide aseptic fill-finish services to ­CytoDyne for the antibody leronlimab. Leronlimab, a CCR5 antagonist, is being administered to COVID-19 patients in New York City hospitals under an emergency investigational new drug program.

PTC Therapeutics is acquiring Censa Pharmaceuticals for $10 million plus potential milestone payments. Censa brings sepiapterin, a small molecule being pursued as a treatment for metabolic diseases.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical has offered to buy the antibiotic developer Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals for $22.3 million. Tetraphase, which in March agreed to be acquired by AcelRx Pharmaceuticals for $14.4 million, says it will consider the offer.