Bachem, the world’s largest peptides manufacturer, has announced some results of two studies it carried out with Novo Nordisk, seeking to make solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) greener.

SPPS requires large volumes of solvents and the current gold standards, because of their excellent solubilisation and stability properties for reagents and resin swelling capabilities, are N-dimethylformamide (DMF), dichloromethane and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone. All now face restrictions under REACH because of their hazardous nature.

Seqens plans to add a second production plant for isopropanol at the Roussillon chemical platform in southern France (pictured). This will have capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year, increasing the company’s total by 70%, and is due to start up in 2021. It will enjoy an optimised production and competitive access to raw materials and energy on site, the company said.