French pharma and healthcare company Sanofi and US biotech Orano Med, a subsidiary of the French nuclear fuel corporation Orano Group and a pioneer in the development of targeted alphatherapies in oncology, have entered into an agreement to combine their expertise in the fight against rare cancers and accelerate the development of next-generation radioligand medicines. Sanofi and Orano will invest in a new entity focusing on the discovery, design and clinical development of next-generation radioligand therapies (RLTs) based on lead-212 (212Pb) alpha-emitting isotopes.
Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas, has announced a partnership with Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia in Italy to develop catalytic routes for converting CO2 into high-value organic carbonates. The technology to be developed has the potential not only to reduce the emissions from chemical processes, using the CO2 previously captured from point sources, but also aims to deliver products with a lower carbon footprint, compared with traditional fossil-based methods.
Kingston University in the UK has joined forces with independent specialist laboratory service provider AttoLife to establish a toxicology testing facility to support the work of coroners and pathologists across England and Wales. The partnership will help address a national shortage of laboratory facilities that can deliver toxicology services for the justice system. The 30-month project has been established through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body of the UK Government that directs research and innovation funding, plus £185,000 in funding from Innovate UK, the United Kingdom’s innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services.
Canadian cell and gene therapy (CGT) CDMO OmniaBio has opened a new CGT manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) centre of excellence in Hamilton, Ontario. It is Canada’s largest CDMO facility dedicated to CGT.
Givaudan, a Swiss manufacturer of flavours, fragrances and active cosmetic ingredients, has started construction of a new production facility in Cikarang, Indonesia. The site represents an initial investment of CHF50m and will span 24,000m2. It will focus on producing a wide range of savoury, sweet, and snack powders as well as infant nutrition solutions.
UK speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company Johnson Matthey (JM) has opened its new Engineering Centre in Mumbai. The facility will tap into India’s engineering talent, increasing JM’s capacity to deliver projects for its customers across its core licensing business and new growth areas in hydrogen, sustainable fuels and chemicals. It will also support India’s ambition to reach net zero by 2070, developing projects that reduce carbon emissions from fuel, power generation and hard-to-abate sectors
US biopharma TRIANA Biomedicines, a company focused on building a target-first molecular glue discovery pipeline for inactivating difficult to address disease targets, has announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with US pharma and biotech Pfizer. The partnership aims to discover novel molecular glue degraders for multiple targets in several disease areas, including oncology.
LGM Pharma, a US provider of tailored API and CDMO services for the full drug product lifecycle, has announced the expansion of its analytical testing services with the addition of endotoxin and rapid sterility testing capabilities. These new services offer drug developers accelerated turnaround times, enhanced quality control and cost savings.
Shift Bioscience, a UK biotech using generative AI models to understand how activation of different genes can reverse the aging process has raised $16m (£12.5m) in seed funding. The investment will be used for the continued development of Shift Bioscience’s AI cell simulation platform, for the identification of genes that can safely rejuvenate cells to combat the effects of age-related illnesses.
10GWh
US chemical manufacturer Lyten has announced plans to build the world’s first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory near Reno, Nevada in the US. At full capacity, it will produce up to 10GWh of lithium-sulfur batteries annually. The facility will manufacture cathode active materials, lithium metal anodes and assemble lithium-sulfur cells, enabling a 100% US-manufactured battery. Initially, the facility will create 200 jobs, growing to more than 1000.
500,000t
German chemicals company BASF is to construct the world’s most powerful industrial heat pump, with a capacity of up to 500,000t/year of steam. The heat pump will use waste heat as its thermal energy source, generated during the cooling and cleaning of process gases in one of the two steam crackers at BASF’s Ludwigshafen site. The heat pump is powered by electricity from renewable energy, resulting in the generation of CO2-free steam, most of which will be used to produce formic acid. The heat pump has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 100,000t/year.
50%
German specialty chemicals company Evonik has started an expansion at its US Charleston site in South Carolina. The new development will boost the production capacity of precipitated silica by 50%, catering to increasing demand from the tyre industry, particularly green tyres in the US.
Valio, a Finnish manufacturer of dairy products, has launched a five-year dairy farm pilot to test carbon-neutral dairy production methods. The pilot will explore how the carbon footprint of the milk produced on farms can be reduced to zero by reducing emissions and adding carbon sinks, and how different practices can be used on dairy farms more widely. The ultimate aim of the pilot is to create carbon-neutral milk production.
The UK’s life sciences sector will receive a £279m boost to tackle significant health challenges, with an intent expressed by US pharma Eli Lilly to invest in the UK as part of a collaborative partnership with the UK Government, announced at the International Investment Summit. Plans to form a new collaboration through a memorandum of understanding will see the pharmaceutical giant backing the UK’s life sciences talent with the planned launch of the first ‘Lilly Gateway Labs’ innovation accelerator in Europe. This facility will support early-stage life sciences businesses to develop transformative medicines by providing lab space, mentorship and potential financial backing to accelerate future growth in the sector.
German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim and US clinical-stage biopharma Circle Pharma have announced a new research collaboration and license agreement with the shared goal to develop a first-in-class cyclin inhibitor that can halt the growth of cancer cells, potentially offering hope to those living with hard-to-treat cancers.
Swiss biopharma Ferring Pharmaceuticals has opened a global manufacturing hub in Finland for the drug substance (active ingredient) of its intravesical non-replicating gene therapy Adstiladrin (nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg). This is an important milestone in growing Ferring’s capacity to meet the current and expected growth in demand for this gene therapy for people with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
US pharma, biotech and medical technologies corporation Johnson & Johnson has announced an investment of more than $2bn to build a state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina, US. The new facility will expand production of the company’s portfolio and pipeline of biologics in support of Johnson & Johnson’s broader plan to advance more than 70 novel therapy and product expansion filings and launches by the end of the decade.
UK CRDMO Ingenza has announced its plans to relocate to the Moubray Building at the Edinburgh Technopole life science incubator. The purpose-built premises will more than double Ingenza’s current footprint to approximately 2300m2, expanding its fermentation and research facilities.
German pharma Bayer has inaugurated its new life science incubator, Bayer Co.Lab Shanghai, in the Shanghai Innovation Park (SH-INNO) at the heart of China´s largest biopharma cluster, Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Bayer Co.Lab is part of the global network of life science incubators situated in key innovation hubs, including Cambridge (US), Kobe (Japan) and Berlin (Germany). The incubator will provide state-of-the art laboratories, collaborative working space and tailored support for start-ups.
South Korean CDMO SK pharmteco has announced an expansion of its small molecule and peptide production capabilities with a $260m investment to construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Sejong, South Korea.
Lonza, a Swiss manufacturing company for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutrition sectors, has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Genentech large-scale biologics manufacturing site in Vacaville, California (US) from Swiss healthcare company Roche for $1.2bn.
Generate:Biomedicines, a US technology company working at the intersection of machine learning, biological engineering and medicine has announced a multi-target collaboration with Swiss pharma Novartis to discover and develop protein therapeutics across multiple disease areas. The collaboration leverages Generate’s proprietary generative AI platform to create potentially first- and best-in-class molecules through AI-based optimisation.
UK engineering services company the ECI Group has signed a licensing agreement with Chinese petrochemical company Shaanxi Yanchang China Coal Yulin Energy & Chemical to deliver a 150,000t/year copolymer plant project, using ECI Group’s proprietary hybrid reactor technology, with the ability for future expansion of both capacity and product capability. ECI Group will provide the technology license, process design package, expanded process design package, and detailed design for the high-pressure system as well as technical procurement services for the project and on-site technical support during installation, start-up and performance assessment.
Indian CDMO Piramal Pharma Solutions has unveiled an $80m investment plan to expand its Lexington, Kentucky, US facility. The site specialises in sterile compounding, liquid filling and lyophilisation for sterile injectable drug products, playing a vital role in the company’s integrated antibody-drug conjugate development and manufacturing programme.
US life science and clinical research company Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched new instruments to simplify trace element analysis with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The launch includes new single quadrupole (iCAP MSX ICP-MS) and triple quadrupole machines (iCAP MTX ICP-MS) designed for environmental, food, industrial and research labs to analyse routine and challenging trace elements, thereby detecting and mitigating harmful substances.
Researchers at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have developed a next-generation uniform prototype that employs nanofibres to safeguard Australian troops from chemical and biological threats. The innovative material is a lightweight fabric that effectively filters out harmful particles while remaining light-weight and breathable.
A team at US research university Georgia Tech has developed a new, low-cost cathode that could radically improve lithium-ion batteries – potentially transforming the electric vehicle (EV) market and large-scale energy storage systems. The new material, iron chloride (FeCl3), costs just 1-2% of typical cathode materials and can store the same amount of electricity. Cathode materials affect capacity, energy, and efficiency, thus playing a major role in a battery’s performance, lifespan, and affordability. Batteries are responsible for about 50% of an EV’s total cost, therefore this invention could significantly reduce that.
BASF Coatings, a division of the German chemicals company, has introduced new sustainable product lines at automotive aftermarket trade fair Automechanika 2024. The company’s next generation of clearcoats employs BASF’s ChemCycling technology. A ‘clearcoat’ is a transparent finish paint that generally works as a topcoat on surfaces or parts that have previously been painted. The product lines, manufactured using recycled feedstock, are marketed under BASF’s Glasurit brand. The products are produced from recycled feedstock derived from waste tyres, diverting them from landfills or incineration, supporting the circular economy and reducing CO2 emissions.
Dutch producer of speciality coatings for flexible materials, Stahl has opened a manufacturing facility for polyurethane dispersions (PUD) in Singapore to serve the growing Asian and South Pacific markets. These dispersions are said to offer a range of benefits including exceptional fastness, water resistance, print retention, and high flex durability. The new facility will also explore renewable energy and bio-based formulations.
Swiss speciality chemicals producer Clariant is promoting a bio-based sustainable alternative to fossil-based montan wax for applications in the coatings and plastics industries. The company’s Lipocare RBW Vita, rice bran wax, is a by-product of the rice industry, offering an up to 80% reduction in carbon footprint, compared with montan wax. It is said to offer impressive gloss, hardness and compatibility for consumer and care products. In plastics applications, it is claimed to improve processing efficiency and enhance material properties.
Belgian bioscience company Syensqo has launched AgRHEA LifeXtend Plus, a technology disruptor for extending the shelf life and boost the bio efficiency of microbial-based agricultural products. It is available as a ready-to-use solution that includes a carrier, co-dispersant and rheology agent for the formulation of microorganisms, including beneficial fungi. The product was introduced at the Annual Biocontrol Industry (ABIM) meeting in Basel, Switzerland in late October 2024.
At the Berlin Congress 2024 in October of SEPAWA, Europe’s largest trade association for the detergents/cleaning products, cosmetics and perfumery industries, German chemical major BASF unveiled a new natural-based polyglyceryl-10 oleate emulsifier for personal care applications, Emulgade Verde 10 OL and polyglyceryl-10 stearate Emulgade Verde 10 MS for personal care applications. Both O/W emulsifiers are based on 100% renewable feedstock and are readily biodegradable. They are both suitable for sensitive skin applications due to their mildness as confirmed by dermatological testing.
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