Posco Future M has conducted the initial shipment of products from its 30,000 tonnes/year nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) cathode material plant in Pohang, South Korea. This was built to supply Samsung SDI with materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, following a $2.9 billion supply agreement in January 2023.

At CPHI in Milan in October, eight Indian CDMOs announced that they have formed a trade group to raise the profile of India’s drug services sector and make it a destination of choice. “We are trying to advocate the idea that, like IT services, pharma services could be a big industry in India,” said Aragen CEO Manni Kantipudi (pictured), who leads the group.

CatSci has opened a second oligonucleotides laboratory, which it will use “to introduce novel workflows for the rapid production of vast numbers of oligos at a scale optimised for rapid screening”. The company is also transforming its largest laboratory space into a centre of excellence for oligonucleotide development by remodelling it to create efficient working spaces for existing and new capabilities.

AlzChem plans to “significantly increase” its nitroguanidine capacity, with a new production plant that will almost double the €76 million expansion it announced in the spring. It will also renew and expand its existing facilities for the precursor, guanidine nitrate, in what CEO Andreas Niedermaier called “the largest investment in our company’s history in Germany to date”.

Swedish-based CDMO Recipharm announced at CPHI that it is “expanding its pharmaceutical development capabilities through targeted investments and the integration of cutting-edge technologies”. This, it said, will bolster services at both early- and late- stage development, giving it fully integrated services that cover the whole life cycle of a molecule. These additions comprise:

Honeywell has announced plans to spin off its Advanced Materials business to its shareholders as an independent, publicly traded company by early 2026. This will enable it become a pure-play speciality chemicals and materials producer, with strong positions in fluorine products, electronic materials, industrial grade fibres and healthcare packaging.

India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach Group in a move that it said would “create a global pigment company, combining SCIL’s operations and expertise with Heubach’s technological capabilities”.  Terms were not disclosed.