UK-based speciality chemicals company Elementis has announced that, by mutual agreement, CEO Paul Waterman will step down no later than the AGM in April 2025, remaining available as required for any transition or other support until the end of July. A successor is now being sought.
Swiss CDMO Siegfried has inaugurated its new global R&D centre for drug substances at its site in Evionnaz. The 4,500 m2 centre houses chemical and analytical facilities, laboratories and advanced technologies including flow chemistry, distillation and process analytics, plus office space. There are workspaces for over 100 and 40 new jobs have been created.
International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), the owner of WeylChem and many other European chemical assets, has acquired the European Advanced Organics business of Valtris Specialty Chemicals. Terms were not disclosed. Valtris’s North American production of benzyl chloride at its Delaware River plant is not part of the deal.
SOCMA, the trade association of the US speciality chemical manufacturing industry, has published an open letter to the pending Trump administration, urging it to “prioritise policies that encourage advancement, streamline regulatory processes and incentivise domestic manufacturing”. In particular, it asked the administration to
* Streamline the EPA’s New Chemicals Review Process to unlock new chemistries
* Open tariff exclusion processes for inputs and raw materials not available in the US
BASF has formed a partnership with Slovenian white biotech Acies Bio. Under this it will further develop the latter’s OneCarbonBio fermentation platform to derive methanol for the production of fatty alcohols for home and personal care ingredients, notably surfactants.
Peptides CDMO AmbioPharm, has broken ground on a 650 m2, $28 million expansion project at its Shanghai manufacturing site. This is due to be complete in 2H 2025 and will produce over 8 tonnes/year of crude peptide.
Building 2, as it is called will feature advanced fragment-based peptide synthesis with multiple 1,000-3,000L solid- and liquid-phase lines. The output will be further processed using existing downstream purification and isolation capabilities at the company’s sites in North Augusta, South Carolina, and Shanghai itself.
Indorama’s Indovinya business segment has agreed to acquire two speciality surfactants brands in the oil and gas sector from Cargill Bioindustrial UK. This includes 25 patents, tolling rights and an R&D facility in Houston, Texas. The two lines are:
* Kememix demulsifiers for the separation and removal of water from crude oil. The range includes alkoxylates, polyamine derivatives and modified polyols, and are said to highly effective under demanding field conditions, including heavy oil, low temperature and low/high water applications
