BASF Coatings, a supplier of innovative coatings, and a subsidiary of German chemical company BASF, has signed a Letter of Intent with Chinese smart electric vehicle company NIO. The strategic partnership aims to enhance cooperation on automotive exterior coatings for NIO’s vehicles.
Salipro Biotech, a Swedish biotech specialising in the stabilisation of challenging drug targets, has signed a research and license agreement with German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim to accelerate the development of multiple drug targets. This collaboration aims to advance the discovery and development of new therapeutic solutions targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), ion channels, transporters and other integral membrane proteins in therapeutic areas such as mental health and cardio-renal-metabolic diseases.
Sangamo Therapeutics, a US genomic medicine company, has entered into a license agreement with US pharma Eli Lilly, allowing Lilly to leverage Sangamo’s proprietary neurotropic adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid, STAC-BBB, which has demonstrated potent blood-brain barrier penetration and neuronal transduction in nonhuman primates. The agreement grants Lilly a worldwide exclusive license to use the STAC-BBB capsid for one initial target. Plus, it has the option to add up to four further targets after paying additional fees.
Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem, a global biopolymer producer, has announced that Braskem Siam, the joint venture between Braskem and Thai chemical manufacturer SCG Chemicals, has signed a Letter of Intent to purchase ethanol from Thailand’s Mitr Phol Bio Fuel for its upcoming bio-ethylene plant. The agreement secures Braskem Siam’s feedstock supply for the new bio-ethylene plant in Thailand – the first of its kind outside of Brazil.
Lonza, a Swiss manufacturing company for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutrition sectors, has joined CMAC (Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation), a centre for medicines manufacturing research based at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. CMAC is an international research hub combining academia and industry. Lonza will gain access to CMAC’s network, which advances chemistry, manufacturing and control technologies, implements digitalisation strategies and develops innovative continuous processing and crystallisation solutions for active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug product technologies.
IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances), a US company that creates products across taste, texture, scent, nutrition, enzymes, cultures, soy proteins and probiotics categories has announced the opening of the 2,800m2 Citrus Innovation Center in Lakeland, Florida, US, in partnership with Florida Polytechnic University. The Center will focus on applications in food and beverage, fine fragrance, body care, and fabric and home care.
IFF’s new US Citrus Innovation Center in Lakeland, Florida
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, a US biopharma developing treatments for human diseases, has announced that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Danish pharma Novo Nordisk for LX9851, a first-in-class, oral non-incretin development candidate in obesity and associated metabolic disorders. Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk obtains an exclusive, worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialise LX9851 in all indications.
Epsilogen, a UK developer of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody therapeutics, has completed its acquisition of TigaTx, a US biotech developing engineered immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. The acquisition combines the IgA antibody assets and expertise of TigaTx with Epsilogen’s assets and expertise in IgE to create a pan-isotype cancer antibody company.
ABL Bio, a South Korean clinical-stage biotech developing bispecific antibody technology for immuno-oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, has signed a worldwide licensing agreement enabling UK biopharma GSK to develop novel medicines for neurodegenerative diseases by using ABL Bio’s blood-brain barrier shuttle platform, Grabody-B. The agreement aims to develop multiple programs for novel targets across therapeutic modalities including antibody, polynucleotide or oligonucleotides, such as siRNA and ASOs, to address significant unmet medical needs of patients suffering from neurodegenerative conditions.
Clean Cells, part of the French Clean Biologics group, a biopharmaceutical quality control services provider operating in biologics GMP testing, has acquired US biotech KaryoLogic, a specialised karyotyping services company.
$4bn
CF Industries Holdings, a US manufacturer and distributor of agricultural fertilisers, including ammonia, urea and ammonium nitrate products, has announced that it has formed a joint venture with Japanese energy company JERA and Japanese investment and trading company Mitsui for the construction, production and offtake of low-carbon ammonia. At CF Industries’ Blue Point Complex in Louisiana, US, the jv will construct a $4bn autothermal reforming ammonia production facility with a CO2 dehydration and compression unit at the site to prepare captured CO2 for transportation and sequestration.
1,397:1
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a US supplier of analytical instruments, and laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology services, has introduced new lines of floor-model centrifuges to provide more sustainable solutions without compromising performance and sample security. The new machines feature GreenCool Technology, a next-generation natural refrigerant cooling system with a Global Warming Potential of 1, which is 1,397 times less impactful to the environment compared to previous technologies.
90-100%
More than half of the production sites in China of Dutch paints and performance coatings company AkzoNobel are edging closer to operating on 100% renewable electricity. Two facilities in Langfang have already achieved 100% coverage; both the Suzhou and Changzhou sites will achieve 100% renewable electricity coverage this year; and plans are in place for both the Shanghai and Wuhan plants to reach 90% by 2026.
12t
UK biotech F-star Therapeutics has announced that it has become a private, independent company, fully owned and operated by its management team. The announcement means that it is no longer part of invoX Pharma, a UK-based subsidiary of Chinese pharmaceutical conglomerate Sino Biopharmaceutical. F-Star remains focused on using its bispecific platform to discover next-generation therapeutics for people with cancer and other serious diseases, both for the company’s internal pipeline and its collaboration partners.
German clinical-stage biotech Ethris, which is developing next-generation RNA therapeutics and vaccines, and Swiss CDMO Lonza have announced a collaboration to develop room-temperature stable, spray-dried formulations of mRNA-based vaccine candidates, designed for mucosal delivery that offer a promising approach to combat respiratory diseases. Lonza will provide spray-drying and particle engineering for vaccine candidates based on Ethris’ stabilised non-immunogenic mRNA (SNIM RNA) and stabilised lipid nanoparticles (SNaP LNP) platform at its Bend (US) site, which specialises in addressing bioavailability challenges and modulating pharmacokinetics to meet target product profiles.
Swiss biotech NBE Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim, has opened its new antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) R&D facility in Basel. The new facility will serve as a research center for advancing ADC research and development, supporting Boehringer Ingelheim’s commitment to developing cancer therapies.
Scale Biosciences, a US biotech developing highly scalable single-cell technologies, has announced its participation in the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Billion Cells Project. Scale Bio joins technology partners 10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics in this landmark effort to generate an unprecedented one billion cell dataset to fuel rapid progress in cell biology through AI model development. This collaboration represents a significant expansion of the data generation capabilities for the Billion Cells Project.
Chiesi Group, an Italian biopharmaceutical company, has announced a €430m investment in Nerviano (Milan, Italy), with the construction of a new facility to produce its therapeutic solutions. The project entails the revitalisation of a 124,000m2 historical production site, first established in 1965 as an oncology research centre and which closed in 2024. The facility will be primarily dedicated to manufacturing carbon minimal inhalers; however, dry powder inhalers and sterile biological products will also be developed in Nerviano.
The European Investment Bank (IEB) has granted a €430m loan for the construction of two projects aimed at transforming the refinery of Portuguese energy corporation Galp in Sines, Portugal. Both projects are designed to help decarbonise heavy-duty road transport and aviation. Galp is developing a biofuels unit with Japan’s Mitsui, as part of a €400m investment, of which €250m is provided by the EIB. This unit will convert vegetable oils and residual fats into sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel of biological origin with identical characteristics to the fossil-based fuels used in regular combustion engines. In parallel, Galp is building at the same site a 100MW electrolyser – a €250m investment of which the EIB will finance €180m. It is set to produce up to 15,000t/year of renewable hydrogen when it goes online in 2026, becoming one of the first operational units of its size in Europe.
The Government of Canada has announced that it is working with Frontier Lithium, a Canadian company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of lithium minerals, to support its proposal to develop and operate a lithium chemicals conversion facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian Government estimates lithium demand is projected to increase 500% by 2050 due to growing domestic battery manufacturing and future transportation technologies.
British-Swedish pharma and biotech AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EsoBiotec, a Belgian biotech developing in vivo cell therapies that have demonstrated promising early clinical activity. The EsoBiotec Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral (ENaBL) platform empowers the immune system to attack cancers and could offer patients access to cell therapy treatments that can be delivered in just minutes rather than the current process which takes weeks.
US intermediate chemicals manufacturer Cornerstone Chemical has sold its sulphuric acid operations to Ecovyst, a US provider of advanced materials, specialty catalysts, sulfuric acid and regeneration services.
German specialty chemicals manufacturer Evonik has launched TEGO Wet 288, a substrate wetting additive designed to address the challenges of waterborne and radiation-cured formulations. Traditional silicone based wetting additives often lose effectiveness in high-pH aqueous formulations during long-term storage or negatively impact reprintability and glueability in radiation-cured formulations. TEGO Wet 288 overcomes these limitations. It is said to offer superior effectiveness and long-term stability in waterborne inkjet inks, excellent substrate wetting while maintaining reprintability and glueability in radiation-curable inks and coatings, while offering broad food contact compliances.
German science and technology company Merck and US mobile computing company Zebra Technologies, which specialises in digitising and automating frontline workflows, have announced M-Trust, a collaboration aimed at co-creating solutions to address challenges around product verification, authenticity and trust. This partnership will be the first cyber-physical trust platform with a mobile computer scanning solution for addressing the growing issues of product safety, traceability and counterfeiting.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the Krios 5 Cryo-Transmission Electron Microscope. It aims to boost productivity and performance by using enhanced automation and a next-generation, atomic-resolution platform that leverages enhanced optics and AI-enabled automation to enable the study of molecular structures and interactions.
Belgian chemical company Solvay has inaugurated its rare earths production line for permanent magnets at the La Rochelle facility in France, a significant milestone in the group’s commitment to meeting Europe’s strategic goals. This facility is the biggest plant outside China capable of separating all rare earth materials. This phase is the first step toward meeting the objective of satisfying 30% of European demand by 2030. The facility will source rare earths and recycled materials from a diverse range of suppliers and mining partners, as mandated by the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.
The Shanghai, China, facility of Carbogen Amcis, the Swiss process development and API manufacturing company, has received its first Drug Manufacturing License from China’s National Medical Products Administration. The facility is equipped for early-phase R&D, pilot scale manufacturing and commercial GMP production.
Carbogen Amcis’ API pilot and commercial scale GMP production facility in Shanghai, China
US producer of biologic medicines, Amgen is to spend $900m on the expansion of its Ohio manufacturing facility, bringing its total investment in central Ohio to over $1.4bn.
Germany’s healthcare major Merck is acquiring commercial-stage US biopharma SpringWorks, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, and specialises in oncology therapies, for an enterprise value of €3bn. The deal will strengthen its healthcare business in the US and expand the reach of SpringWorks therapeutic innvovations.
US bioplatform innovation company, Flagship Pioneering has unveiled Etiome, a company focused on the detection and pre-emption of disease progression using its Temporal Biodynamics platform, described as the first end-to-end AI technology to characterise disease with ‘increased resolution over time’ and accelerate the development of preemptive medicines. Flagship Pioneering has initially committed $50m to advance the technology platform and to develop a drug pipeline.
UK oncology therapeutics company Mosaic Therapeutics has in-licensed two clinical-stage oncology platforms from Astex Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. As part of the deal, Astex has taken a 19% equity stake in Mosaic with a further 3% dependent on clinical milestones. Astex will also receive shares in potential future revenue.
A new UK-based mid-size CDMO, Meribel Pharma Solutions, has been launched with an extensive integrated network across Europe. The firm has ten manufacturing sites and three drug development sites following the acquisition of the Synerlab CDMO Group and seven facilities from Recipharm, acquired in 2024. The management team at the company is led by CEO Bruce Vielle, former President of Synerlab, and COO Steve Leonard, formerly Corporate VP, global operations and supply chain at Integra Life Sciences.
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