Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Business

Business Roundup

January 25, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 4

Eastman Chemical has bought Tongxiang Xinglong Fine Chemical, a firm near Shanghai that produces cellulose-based specialty polymers. Eastman says the acquisition will support its customers in China and free up capacity at its cellulose polymers plant in Kings­port, Tenn.

Optima Chemical has agreed to purchase and license select lithium products from FMC, including lithium aluminum hydride and lithium borohydride. The firm, based in Douglas, Ga., says the products will expand its business beyond the contract manufacturing of drug intermediates and ligands for catalysts.

Hexion Specialty Chemicals will sell its Italian solvent-borne alkyd and polyester coating resins operation to Tenax, an Italian firm that makes similar products. Tenax plans to continue running the Cola di Lazise facility, which employs 44 people.

W.R. Grace has sold a 5% interest in Advanced Refining Technologies, a supplier of hydroprocessing catalysts for low-sulfur fuels, to partner Chevron Products. The sale turns the partnership into an equally owned joint venture. ART had sales of $349 million in 2008.

Liquidia, a maker of engineered particles for drug and vaccine delivery, has raised $20 million in its third round of venture capital financing. The money will be used to accelerate a vaccine candidate through initial clinical evaluation and expand development for siRNA delivery and inhaled therapeutics.

Celgard, a manufacturer of microporous separators used in lithium-ion batteries, will spend $100 million to expand its facility in Charlotte, N.C., and build a new plant in Concord, N.C. In August, the plant expansion project was selected to receive a $49.2 million grant from the Department of Energy. The company hopes to receive additional state and local incentives.

Ranbaxy Laboratories has agreed to buy Biovel Lifesciences, a Bangalore, India-based maker of vaccines and biotherapeutics. Biovel produces vaccines approved for use in India to prevent typhoid fever, hepatitis, and other diseases.

GenVec and Novartis will collaborate on treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders. Novartis will pay $7 million in cash and stock in exchange for rights to GenVec’s preclinical program. The treatments aim to regenerate cells in the inner ear by delivering the atonal gene via GenVec’s adenovector technology.

AstraZeneca and Dako, a tissue-based cancer diagnostics specialist with headquarters in Denmark, will develop diagnostics tests for AstraZeneca oncology projects. Under the agreement, the companies will work together on tests to assist physicians in identifying the most appropriate treatments, either biologics or small molecules, for individual patients.

Advertisement

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.