Business Roundup

Albemarle CEO Luke Kissam will retire in June 2020 for health reasons. Kissam joined the specialty chemical maker in 2003 and has been CEO since 2011. The firm’s board says it will begin a search for his successor.

Celanese plans to expand its capacity for vinyl acetate ethylene polymers, used in emulsions, by 85,000 metric tons (t) per year at its plant in Nanjing, China. The firm is also expanding capacity by 70,000 t at its plant in Geleen, the Netherlands.

PPG is using Dow’s polysiloxane resins to develop anticorrosion coatings for steel. Two coatings of paint made with the Dow resins offer the same level of protection as a traditional three-coat system, PPG says.

Tate & Lyle has made an investment of undisclosed size in Zymtronix, a start-up developing technology to immobilize enzymes onto magnetic metamaterials. The two firms will work to scale up the technology to produce biobased ingredients for food, flavor, fragrance, and other applications.

Danimer Scientific has signed an agreement to supply its biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate resins for home-compostable bags that Columbia Packaging Group will manufacture. Danimer has completed a plant to produce the resins in Winchester, Kentucky.

BenchSci, a Canadian company that uses artificial intelligence to help researchers choose antibodies and other reagents for drug development, has raised $22 million in series B financing. Separately, BenchSci says it has expanded its contract with Novartis.

Chroma Color has acquired Plastics Color, including its facilities in North Carolina and Illinois, for an undisclosed sum. Both firms produce color and additive concentrates for the polymer industry.

CARB-X, a nonprofit that accelerates antibacterial R&D, is awarding up to $6.8 million to Pattern Bioscience of Austin, Texas. Pattern is developing a test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant infections.