AstraZeneca is continuing to build its US presence with plans to invest $50bn in medicines manufacturing in the country by 2030. The move will help it deliver on its ambition of reaching $80bn in total revenue by 2030. Some 50% of this revenue target is expected to be generated in the US. The plans will see the development of a facility in Virginia to produce ‘drug substances’ for AstraZeneca’s weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, and Baxdrostat, a potential first-in-class, highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) targeting the hormone driving elevated blood pressure and increased cardiovascular and renal risk. The facility will also produce small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides. Other investments over the next five years include expansion of R&D facilities in Maryland; an R&D centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; manufacturing facilities for cell therapy in Maryland and California; continuous manufacturing expansion in Indiana; specialty manufacturing expansion in Texas; new sites to supply clinical trials; and growing R&D investment in novel medicines.
Garonit Pharmaceutical, an India-based manufacturer of antiseptic products and healthcare solutions, will establish a state-of-the-art, 18,600m2 pharmaceutical manufacturing site in New Windsor, Orange County, New York. The $46.1m investment means the facility will become the world’s largest chlorhexidine gluconate manufacturing operation, producing antiseptic products essential for surgical disinfection and infection prevention in hospitals worldwide. New York State is supporting this project with $3.8m.
Arlington Capital Partners, a US private investment firm specialising in government-regulated industries, has announced that its portfolio company AVS Bio, a provider of critical inputs and services for the bioprocessing and biologics industries, has acquired ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (Europe). IPA Europe is a carve-out of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd, a Canadian biotherapeutics company leveraging proprietary technologies, including its LENSai platform, to accelerate the discovery of next-generation biologics. The acquisition expands AVS Bio’s European footprint and adds advanced capabilities in antibody discovery, protein expression, and organoid growth factor development and manufacturing to its growing service portfolio.
Neucore Bio, a US early-stage biotech developing the therapeutic potential of non-viral, engineered exosomes, has received a $304,000 US National Science Foundation Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I grant to evaluate scalable manufacturing efficiencies to deliver exosome-based therapeutics for challenging genetic disorders affecting the peripheral nerve system.
Charles River Laboratories International, a US pharma specialising in preclinical and clinical laboratory, gene therapy and cell therapy services and supplies for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries, is exploring a potential collaboration to enable Charles River Incubator (CIP) and Accelerator (CAP) Program participants to access the BioTech Funding Portal, a US investment crowdfunding platform for life science companies. The partnership would allow early-stage cell and gene therapy developers to raise up to $5m per year via the platform, accelerating development. The BioTech Funding Portal, a subsidiary of BioTech Social exclusively lists life sciences companies, like participants of the CIP and CAP programs, acting as a conduit for the crowdfunding of emerging biotech companies.
US biotech royalty aggregator XOMA Royalty Corp and Dutch cancer therapy company Lava Therapeutics have announced a definitive share purchase agreement under which XOMA Royalty will acquire Lava. In a separate deal, XOMA Royalty has announced an agreement with HilleVax, a US biopharma focused on the development and commercialisation of novel vaccines, under which XOMA Royalty will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of HilleVax.
UK cleanroom microbiology company Cherwell, part of AnalytiChem, a German manufacturer of specialty laboratory supplies, has been renamed AnalytiChem UK.
ERB Pharmaceuticals, a French specialty pharmaceutical company focused on medicines for rare diseases and medical emergencies, and Y-mAbs Therapeutics, a US commercial-stage biopharma focused on the development and commercialisation of antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which SERB will acquire Y-mAbs, including its lead commercial oncology asset, DANYELZA (naxitamab-gqgk), in an all-cash transaction, representing an equity value for Y-mAbs of approximately $412m.
$2bn
US biotech Biogen has announced $2bn of investment at its existing site in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park (RTP). Since 1995, Biogen’s manufacturing in RTP has played a vital role in delivering the company’s pipeline and portfolio of treatments. Biogen has invested approximately $10bn in North Carolina, including more than $3bn in recent years.
400,000t
Korean chemical company LG Chem and Enilive, which is a subsidiary of the Italian Eni group, have taken a major step toward biofuels growth by breaking ground on Korea’s first hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant in LG Chem’s Daesan Chemical Complex located in Seosan. The new LG-Eni BioRefining facility will process approximately 400,000t/year of renewable bio-feedstock.
6000
US biotech startup Neoclease is the winner of the 2025 North American Advance Biotech Grant from German science and technology company Merck. Neoclease develops AI-designed gene editing therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Its platform combines generative AI and synthetic biology to develop next-generation, precision gene-editing therapies. Its lead candidate, NCX-L2, is designed to slow or halt the progression of the disease – a condition that currently has no disease-modifying treatments. Neoclease’s approach has the potential to address more than 6,000 monogenic diseases by targeting the root causes of illness rather than just managing symptoms.
90%
Sandoz, a Swiss company focused on generic and biosimilar medicines, has signed a 10-year virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) with Elawan Energy, a Spanish operator in the renewable energy sector, for new-build solar projects in Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain. Europe is home to most of Sandoz’s operations, and this partnership is expected to meet nearly 90% of current electricity demand across the company’s European sites. Under the agreement, Sandoz and Elawan Energy will jointly develop new solar projects with a total installed capacity of 150MW.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) has awarded AU$62m for 13 new training centres and research hubs. Under the ARC’s Industrial Transformation Research Program (ITRP), these Training Centres and Research Hubs will support university-based researchers and industry to work together to address significant industry-identified priorities. Designed to drive innovative research, projects will deliver a wide range of practical outcomes, from developing reliable sensors and smart algorithms that can monitor Australians’ health while safeguarding their data, to transforming how soil and crops are managed in Australian agriculture, plus research in renewable and low-emissions technologies.
Antibodies.com, a UK provider of high-quality biological reagents for life science researchers, has announced the expansion of its UK headquarters with a move to Cambridge Technopark to accommodate the company’s rapid growth. The new 500m2 site is five-times larger than its previous premises and has been designed to house increased operational capabilities and broaden access to its range of high-quality reagents and products that support accelerated discovery and development of antibody therapeutics.
US biopharma Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has revealed the signing of an asset purchase agreement between French pharma Sanofi and Visirna Therapeutics, a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead created to develop and commercialise four of Arrowhead’s investigational cardiometabolic candidates in Greater China. Under the terms, Sanofi will acquire rights to develop and commercialise investigational plozasiran, Arrowhead’s first-in-class RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic candidate designed as a potential treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG), in Greater China. Sanofi will pay $130m upfront and up to $265m in potential regulatory milestones to Visirna Therapeutics
Matchpoint Therapeutics, a US biotech developing the discovery of precision covalent medicines, has entered into an exclusive option and license agreement with Swiss pharma Novartis for the development and commercialisation of oral covalent inhibitors directed at a transcription factor linked to a number of inflammatory diseases. Matchpoint’s technology leverages the properties of covalent chemistry and a proprietary platform to target a novel binding site on a historically hard-to-drug protein. The result is to precisely inhibit that protein’s function and the resulting production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.
Chinese pharma Hengrui Pharma has entered into agreements with UK pharma and biotech GSK to develop up to 12 innovative medicines. The programmes were selected to complement GSK’s extensive respiratory, immunology & inflammation and oncology pipeline, and assessed for their potential best- or first-in-class profiles. GSK will pay $500m in upfront fees across the agreements.
Sanner, a German producer of healthcare packaging and drug delivery solutions, has opened its first US-based production facility in Greensboro, North Carolina, US. The facility supports localised production to serve MedTech and pharmaceutical partners across North America.
Belgian materials company Syensqo and German battery recycling startup cylib have reached a milestone in circular battery materials processing by producing high-purity lithium hydroxide from spent EV batteries. This achievement enables the extraction and purification of lithium from shredded battery electrodes, known as black mass, from different battery chemistries, such as NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) and LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate), on a single operating line. This approach simplifies the recycling process, increases versatility and potentially reduces capital expenditures.
Coriolis Pharma, a German biotech CRDO, intends investing $10m to establish a state-of-the-art US research laboratory. The facility will create 50 jobs at Spark LS, an innovative life science campus in Morrisville, North Carolina.
Irish-registered chemical company Linde has announced two new US projects to supply bulk industrial gases for rocket launches. Linde will significantly expand its industrial gases facility in Mims, Florida, which provides liquid oxygen and nitrogen to support rocket launches at nearby space facilities. The additional capacity is expected to start up in the first quarter of 2027. Linde will also build and operate a new air separation unit in Brownsville, Texas.
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, a US speciality pharma developing and manufacturing complex generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation and intranasal products, has announced a multi-year expansion of its US manufacturing operations at its headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Over the next three to five years the company plans to quadruple its production capacity at this location.
German chemical company Wacker Chemie has started production at its new €300m production line for the manufacture of ultra-pure semiconductor-grade polysilicon. The facility, located at its highly automated Burghausen production site in Germany, will supply feedstock for the next generation of computer chips.
The new production line at Waker Chemie’s Burghausen production site supplies hyperpure semiconductor-grade polysilicon for the microelectronics industry. Image: Wacker Chemie AG
GenesisM, a joint venture between US private investment firm Bain Capital Real Estate and US real estate investment and development firm Botanic Properties, have broken ground on its new 14,300m2 Class A biomanufacturing facility in Bedford, Massachusetts. The project addresses the need for purpose-built life sciences manufacturing infrastructure in the Greater Boston region.
Artist’s impression of the new GenesisM biomanufacturing facility located in Bedford, Massachusetts, US
German science and technology company Merck has launched the AAW (Automated Assay Workstation), a solution powered by Opentrons Labworks, a US lab automation and accessible robotics company. The workstation automates routine laboratory experiments previously performed manually, reducing hands-on time and ensuring consistency in results across diverse experimental settings. This launch follows the earlier announcement of a multi-year partnership with Opentrons Labworks to enhance laboratory workflows through automation.
Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem and Ardent Process Technologies, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas, have successfully completed their joint development program for a new olefin-paraffin separation technology. The collaboration, which began in November 2020, centred on the development and testing of Ardent’s OptipermM membrane technology at a dedicated demonstration unit within Braskem’s facilities. Braskem intends to implement this technology across its commercial facilities.
BioConsortia, a US microbial sustainable agriculture company, has received $15m in funding from its investors to accelerate the launch of Always-N, BioConsortia’s nitrogen-fixing seed treatment for industrial corn, and support continued expansion of its discovery and development engine. Applied as a seed treatment, Always-N enables farmers to maintain crop yields while reducing reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers – significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving soil health. BioConsortia claims Always-N delivers consistent field performance and is the only nitrogen-fixing biofertiliser combining advanced gene editing and extended viability exceeding two years.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a US supplier of analytical instruments, and laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology services, has launched two new electron microscopes. The Scios 3 is a focused ion beam (FIB) scanning electron microscope (SEM) with automation to improve site-specific quality control. It offers increased productivity for both industry and academia thanks to enhanced lamella preparation and ease-of-use upgrades. The Talos 12 makes sample analysis more accessible for biological research, pathology and drug development.
Bionova Scientific, a full-service biologics contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) and subsidiary of global conglomerate Asahi Kasei, has opened a new 10,000 square-foot state-of-the-art plasmid DNA (pDNA) development and production facility in The Woodlands, Texas. Located north of Houston, Texas, the new facility designs, develops and manufactures research-grade pDNA materials to support the cell and gene therapy field.
New pDNA facility opened by Bionova Scientific in the Woodlands, north of Houston, Texas
Sartorius Stedim Biotech, a leading partner to the biopharmaceutical industry, and Nanotein Technologies, a developer of next-generation immune cell activation reagents, have formed a partnership. Sartorius will invest up to $3m in a minority shareholding in Nanotein to support the commercialisation and joint development of solutions based on its NanoSpark platform.
German pharma major Bayer and Kumquat Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech company founded by pioneers of the KRAS pathway, have entered into an exclusive global license and collaboration to develop and commercialise Kumquat’s KRAS G12D inhibitor. Under the agreement, Kumquat is responsible for the initiation and completion of the Phase Ia study, while Bayer will complete development and commercial activities.
Ecolab, a US provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services, is to acquire Ovivo’s Electronics business, a leading and fast-growing global provider of breakthrough ultra-pure water technologies for semiconductor manufacturing. The acquisition will bring together Ovivo’s technologies with Ecolab’s leading water solutions, digital technologies and global service capabilities.
UK-based Camena Bioscience, an innovator in enzymatic DNA synthesis, and Constructive Bio, a pioneer in whole genome writing, have joined a collaborative project led by the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany, for a research initiative to develop synthetic chloroplast genomes.
German materials manufacturer, Covestro is expanding its specialty isocyanate business by acquiring two former Vencorex production sites for HDI derivatives in Freeport, US, and Rayong, Thailand, strengthening its Solutions & Specialties segment as part of its long-term growth strategy. The acquisition will enhance Covestro’s aliphatics production in the US and Asia-Pacific regions.
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