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Business briefing for March 17

Dow invests in Dutch recycler Xycle

Dow has invested in Xycle, a Rotterdam-based firm that is developing what it calls a low-temperature pyrolysis process for breaking down mixed plastics waste into feedstocks that can be processed into plastics again. Other investors include ING, Invest-NL, Polestar Capital, and Vopak. Xycle intends to build a plant in the Port of Rotterdam by the end of 2026 that will have 21,000 metric tons (t) per year of capacity. Dow is planning to use the output in its own petrochemical plants. Dow has signed similar agreements with other firms. In 2022, Mura Technology said it would build a plant using its supercritical steam-based technology at Dow’s site in Böhlen, Germany. Dow also has a pact to buy the output from a recycling plant that Valoregen is planning in France. Last year, it signed an agreement to buy the output from a plant that Freepoint Eco-Systems aims to build in Arizona. Also in 2024, Dow acquired US polyethylene recycler Circulus, which has 50,000 t of annual capacity, for about $130 million. —ALEX TULLO

BP withdraws from UK hydrogen project

The British oil and gas producer BP, which announced Feb. 26 that it is rolling back its carbon emissions cuts, is withdrawing from HyGreen Teesside, a large-scale, low-carbon hydrogen project in the UK. Late last year, the company said it would halt 18 early-stage hydrogen projects. It also aims to cut annual energy transition spending by $5 billion, to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. BP says it will still proceed with five–seven “high-graded projects” in hydrogen and carbon capture.—ALEX SCOTT

Northvolt files for bankruptcy again

The electric vehicle battery developer Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in its home country of Sweden, putting its future in the hands of a court-ordered trustee. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in November with the hope of carrying out a restructuring that would let it survive, but it was unable to secure the necessary financing. Northvolt, which had aspired to become a European competitor to Chinese battery producers, says the trustee will now oversee the sale of its businesses.—MICHAEL MCCOY

A bearded worker on a ladder next to a tall metal carbon capture unit.

Credit: Business Wire

Spiritus operates a direct-air-capture pilot plant at this facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Spiritus raises cash for carbon capture

Spiritus has raised $30 million in series A funding to help it develop new technology for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air. Aramco Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, and TDK Ventures are backing the New Mexico–based start-up. It was cofounded in 2022 by Matt Lee, a former Los Alamos National Laboratory chemical engineer who invented the firm’s CO2-capturing sorbent. Spiritus says it is targeting carbon capture at a cost of $100 per metric ton, compared with $1,000 per metric ton for current direct- air technologies.—MICHAEL MCCOY

Evonik licenses H2O2 in China

Evonik Industries is licensing its hydrogen peroxide production technology to China Pingmei Shenma Group Nylon Technology, which plans to build a H2O2 plant in Pingdingshan, China. The plant, which will have 200,000 metric tons per year of capacity, will start up in 2026. The peroxide will be used in the production of caprolactam, the main raw material for nylon 6 polymer. Evonik’s peroxide rival Solvay signed a similar deal with Hubei Sanning Chemical in 2022.—ALEX TULLO

Oasis urges changes at Japan’s DIC

Oasis Management is urging DIC shareholders to vote against the reelection of DIC chairman Kaoru Ino. Oasis owns an 11.5% interest in the Japanese firm, formerly known as Dainippon Ink and Chemicals. Oasis says the specialty chemical firm has underperformed during Ino’s tenure and that he has done little to supervise “improper transactions” between DIC and its founding Kawamura family. The hedge fund manager is also demanding more transparency about DIC’s plans to reduce its art collection by about 25%, saying that the works are an important component of the company’s value. Oasis has a similar initiative at the Japanese detergent and personal care product maker Kao Corporation, in which it is also a major shareholder.—ALEX TULLO

Indian chemical start-up raises $40 million

Scimplify, a start-up based in Bengaluru, India, that connects regional specialty chemical companies with global customers, has raised $40 million in a series B funding round. The haul takes the firm’s total funding to $54 million. Simplify was founded in 2023 to help companies that depend on chemical suppliers from a single region diversify their supply chains. It has over 150 manufacturing plants in its network and serves industries including agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. Scimplify says it will use the new influx of cash to boost research capabilities and international sales.—AAYUSHI PRATAP

908 gets order from Ukraine

A handheld mass spectrometer with a display.

Credit: 908 Devices

908 Devices mass spectrometers are being sent to Ukraine to detect chemical hazards.

908 Devices has received an order from Ukraine’s Ministry of Health for its MX908 handheld mass spectrometry devices fitted with Aero modules to help detect aerosols. The $1.7 million order will be ready for shipment during the first quarter of 2025. The devices will be used for identifying trace amounts of hazardous materials, including explosives and chemical warfare agents.—ALEX TULLO

Syngene buys plant in Baltimore

Syngene, an Indian contract manufacturing firm, has bought its first biologics facility in the US. The company spent $50 million to purchase and upgrade a Baltimore facility with existing multiple monoclonal antibody manufacturing lines. The company says the acquisition, from Emergent BioSolutions, will increase the bioreactor capacity it needs for large-molecule discovery, development, and manufacturing services and allow it to ensure steady supplies to its North American customers.—AAYUSHI PRATAP

CordenPharma strikes deal with Viking

CordenPharma, a Swiss drug services firm, has entered an agreement with US-based Viking Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm developing weight-loss treatments. Under the deal, Corden will get $150 million to develop and manufacture Viking’s glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist drug candidate, VK2735, in both pill and injectable formulations. Separately, Corden, which last year announced an investment of nearly $1 billion in peptide manufacturing, will invest more than $500 million in a new facility in Muttenz, Switzerland. The firm already has three other plants in that country.—AAYUSHI PRATAP

Sun Pharma to acquire Checkpoint

Sun Pharma, a large manufacturer of generic medications based in Mumbai, will acquire Checkpoint Therapeutics for up to $355 million. Checkpoint develops treatments for solid-tumor cancers. In December it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its UNLOXCYT monoclonal antibody to treat adults with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. It is still awaiting approval from agencies in the European Union and says shareholders could receive a dividend of up to 70 cents per share if the treatment is approved before “certain deadlines.”—SARAH BRANER

Roche, Zealand enter weight-loss drug collab

Roche is licensing a weight-loss and diabetes drug candidate from Zealand Pharma in a deal worth up to $5.3 billion. The pharmaceutical giant is paying Zealand $1.65 billion up front for the rights to codevelop and co-commercialize an amylin analog called petrelintide, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. The two companies will also explore whether petrelintide can be used in combination with Roche’s CT-388, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist that’s in Phase 2 trials for weight loss in people with and without type 2 diabetes. Zealand will pay Roche $350 million for contributing CT-388 to the combination product, should it prevail.—ROWAN WALRATH

Business Roundup

Hy24 has agreed to invest $115 million in Atome’s planned green fertilizer project in Paraguay. The plant will make calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer from hydrogen generated from hydroelectric power.

Standard Investments has accumulated a 3% stake in the specialty chemical maker Syensqo, making it one of the firm’s largest shareholders. Standard has been pushing for managerial changes at another company in which it has a sizable stake, Johnson Matthey.

Lummus Technology and Resynergi have commercially launched the latter’s microwave-assisted pyrolysis for recycling plastics. The firms say the technology is faster and more efficient than conventional pyrolysis.

Shard Capital Partners, along with Royal Strategic Partners and theAl-Qahtani Group, plans to build a $7 billion petrochemical project in New Alamein City, Egypt. The proposed complex would have capacity to make 3.1 million metric tons of petrochemical products annually.

Ingevity has appointed David H. Li president and CEO effective April 7. He will replace Luis Fernandez-Moreno, an Ingevity board member who has been serving in those roles on an interim basis. Li was CEO of the electronic chemical maker CMC Materials before its sale to Entegris.

Standard Lithium says its lithium chemical joint venture with Equinor has completed successful field tests of its direct lithium extraction technology in Arkansas. The firm says the tests are a critical step toward commercialization.

Innospec says it will expand capacity to make drag-reducing agents at its plant in Pleasanton, Texas, by the fourth quarter. Drag-reducing agents are high-molecular-weight polymers added to crude oil and fuels to help them flow through pipelines more freely.

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