Business Roundup

W. R. Grace & Co. will nominate two new directors to its board in an agreement with 40 North Latitude, which owns about 14% of Grace’s stock and is its largest shareholder. Under the agreement, 40 North will refrain from taking certain actions regarding the company.

Chemours has started up a $300 million plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the low-global-warming-potential refrigerant HFO-1234yf. The firm says the facility is the world’s largest to produce the refrigerant. HFO-1234yf is already widely used in auto air conditioners and increasingly in stationary air-conditioning and refrigeration units.

AdvanSix, Olin, and Altivia Petrochemicals have filed a petition with the US government claiming foreign acetone is being dumped on the US market. The three acetone makers say they are being damaged by cheap acetone from Belgium, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, and Spain.

Invista has selected Shanghai Chemical Industry Park as the site for a 400,000-metric-ton-per-year adiponitrile plant to open in 2022. Last year, when Invista first disclosed plans to build the nylon raw material plant in China, it put the capacity at more than 300,000 t.

Total, the French oil and chemical company, has acquired Synova, a Paris-based plastics recycling firm, for an undisclosed sum. Synova produces 20,000 metric tons per year of recycled polypropylene for the auto industry.

International Flavors & Fragrances has acquired The Additive Advantage (TAA), a developer of technology for printing scents, tastes, and active ingredients on foods, cosmetics, and nutrition products. TAA was founded in 2006 in Massachusetts.

Arvelle Therapeutics will pay $100 million up front for the rights to develop and commercialize cenobamate, an epilepsy drug discovered by SK Biopharmaceuticals, in Europe. SK is eligible for milestone payments of up to $430 million.

Vor Biopharma has raised $42 million in series A financing to engineer hematopoietic stem cells to avoid being killed by certain cancer therapies. The company envisions administering the cells alongside cancer immunotherapies.