American start-up DMC Biotechnologies, which develops and produces chemicals and ingredients using precision fermentation, has agreed to create the ‘Biotech Open Platform’ in partnership with French industrial giants Danone and Michelin, and the investment bank Crédit Agricole. The first-phase investment is over €16 million.

The European Commission has approved the first Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI). Under IPCEI Med4Cure, member states will provide up to €1 billion in public funding, which is expected to unlock €5.9 billion more in private funding.

Mitra Chem, a specialist in lithium-ion battery materials, has formed a joint project with inks and pigments giant Sun Chemical to develop the first iron phosphate mass production capability in North America. This will be co-located with Mitra Chem's lithium iron phosphate (LFP) production.

BASF has revealed that it is collaborating with three German universities on a project to make fumaric acid from the Basfia succiniciproducens bacterium by fermentation. The company uses fumaric acid as a chemical intermediate for various low carbon footprint products, including food and feed additives for, pharmaceutical raw materials and building blocks for polymers and detergents.

Formosa Laboratories, a Taiwan-based API supplier and CDMO, has completed the acquisition of SynChem, a contract research laboratory located in suburban Chicago. SynChem will now operate as SynChem-Formosa, with Dr W. Paul Mar continuing as CEO. Terms were not disclosed.

Trillium Renewable Chemicals has chosen Ineos Nitriles’ Green Lake facility in Port Lavaca, Texas, as the site for its Project Falcon demonstration plant to convert plant-based glycerol into acrylonitrile. This should begin operations in early 2025 and will help to validate commercial-scale economics and product carbon footprint at scale, the company said.

DuPont has announced a plan to separate into three separate, publicly traded companies over the course of the 18-24 months, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including final board approval regulatory approvals and satisfactory completion of financing. Outgoing CEO and executive chairman Ed Breen (pictured) described this as “an extraordinary opportunity to deliver long-term, sustainable shareholder value”.