Ken Sipes, director of process systems at EPIC Systems, explains the benefits of designing modular process skids for delayed differentiation

Delayed differentiation, also known as late product differentiation (LPD), refers to the practice of postponing changes to a base product until the end of the manufacturing process. This strategy is widely practised by manufacturers of flavours and fragrances, home and personal care products, adhesives, speciality chemicals and others.

Nicolas Biz, CDMO chief project officer, shows how Seqens rapidly developed production of a key material in the fight against Covid-19

Pending the availability of a vaccine, which will necessarily take time, the race against the clock is under way to identify and develop an anti-viral molecule effective against Covid-19. Research is taking place at an unprecedented speed, with more than 1,900 clinical trials listed worldwide since the start of the pandemic. Of these, 912 are in the process of patient testing.

Dow’s headquarters site at Midland, Michigan, was hit by flooding on the morning of 20 May following the collapse of two dams. The company has now stated that “significant progress continues to be made on clean-up and recovery”, including the restoration of utilities, infrastructure, and logistics across the site to normal operations.

DSM, Bayer, Symrise, Henkel and Takasago International are among 155 companies signing a joint release by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the UN Global Compact, and the We Mean Business coalition. This urged governments “to align their Covid-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with the latest climate science” and “prioritise a faster and fairer transition from a grey to a green economy”, with net zero carbon emissions.

Clariant is expanding its capabilities for the Hostapon SCI brand of isethionate derivatives at its site in Mount Holly, US, and Tarragona, Spain. This will comprise both capacity increases and modernisation via optimised energy consumption and aggregate options for new SI grades. It should come onstream during Q1 2021.

Six days after the US and the UK began formal negotiations for a post-Brexit bilateral trade deal on 5 May, representatives from the respective industry associations, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) jointly published some comments outlining their priorities.

“With the uncertainty swirling around Brexit and the COVID-19 crisis, a trade agreement between the UK and the USA will help ensure both countries maintain critical market access during this unprecedented and challenging time,” said Steve Elliott, chief executive of the CIA.

Several of the world’s major pharmaceutical CDMOS have recently made announcements relating to their participation in projects to develop treatment for the Covid-19 virus. Many involve chloroquines, in anticipation of their large-scale use.