Business Roundup

Mangrove Lithium, a Canadian company that processes brine, hard rock, and clay to produce lithium hydroxide for batteries, has raised $10 million in series A funding. Mangrove plans to build its first commercial-scale plant and hopes to expand lithium refining in the Western Hemisphere.

Arxada, Lonza’s former specialty chemical business, will spend $21 million to expand its fermentation plant in Kouřim, Czech Republic. The contract manufacturing facility serves industries including food and nutrition, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture.

LG Chem and GS Caltex plan to commercialize large-scale fermentation of 3-hydroxypropionic acid. LG says the monomer can be used to make a biodegradable plastic it calls polylactate 3-hydroxypropionate as well as acrylic acid for superabsorbent polymers, adhesives, and coatings.

Lonza will expand its microbial development labs in Visp, Switzerland, by 50%. New assets for microbe-derived protein development are expected to be operating by year-end.

Benchling, a supplier of cloud-based software for drug research, has raised $100 million in series F funding. The firm will invest the funds in product development and expansion of operations, especially in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Sanofi will invest $180 million in Owkin, which specializes in artificial intelligence–based predictive biomedical models. Sanofi says it will work with Owkin in oncology areas including lung cancer, breast cancer, and multiple myeloma.

Athos Therapeutics, a specialist in autoimmune disorders, has raised $15 million in series A financing. The money will support preclinical and clinical programs and development of its artificial intelligence–driven drug discovery platform.

Gilead Sciences will pay Arcus Biosciences $725 million for three cancer programs: antibodies that target TIGIT, a small-molecule adenosine receptor antagonist, and a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor. The two companies began collaborating in 2020.