Business Roundup

DuPont will sell the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Del., to the Buccini/Pollin Group real estate firm. Separately, DuPont says it plans to sell the DuPont Country Club on the outskirts of Wilmington.

Archroma will expand production of tetrasulfonated optical brightening agents, commonly used in papermaking, at its site in Prat del Llobregat, Spain. The new capacity is due to come on-line by mid-May.

Frutarom Industries has agreed to buy two South African firms—Unique Flavors and Unique Food Solutions—for $6.7 million. The Unique companies employ 64 people and have annual sales of sweet and savory flavors of about $9 million.

Novo will invest $95 million in the German contract research firm Evotec, resulting in ownership of about 8.9%. Novo, which manages assets for the Novo Nordisk Foundation, says it anticipates growth in external innovation and outsourcing in the drug industry.

BASF will partner with the European Space Agency to evaluate uses of satellite data for agriculture. Real-time satellite information can help growers optimize fertilizer and water use and predict crop yields, BASF says.

Daiichi Sankyo will dissolve one of its Japanese research subsidiaries, Asubio Pharma, and absorb its 150 employees elsewhere in the company. Daiichi, which has been reorganizing its R&D operations, shut down an Indian R&D center in January.

AgriProtein, a South African animal feed start-up, has entered a $10 million partnership with the engineering firm Christof Industries to expand production of protein and oil from soldier fly larvae. The two firms plan to build up to 25 fly farms a year to convert organic waste into feed products.

Akebia Therapeutics has licensed from Johnson & Johnson compounds targeting hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a regulator in red blood cell production. For $1 million, Akebia gains rights to a preclinical compound for inflammatory bowel disease and a library of other HIF pathway molecules. J&J gets an option to buy a stake in Akebia.