Luxembourg-based OCSiAl has completed construction of a 3,000 tonnes/year facility for water-based single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) dispersions in Serbia to support the manufacture of high-performance batteries. It is due to begin production in Q3.

Featuring cleanroom-operated production lines, this facility is an optimised version of the previous generation, with 15 times higher output. Much of the output is contracted with global electric vehicle producers and collaborations with the world’s largest lithium-ion battery cell manufacturers, the company said.

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.

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.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight & Accountability committee has approved the Biosecure Act, which will require American companies to cease working with WuXi AppTec, among other Chinese biotechs, by 2032. This follows a vote on an earlier draft by the Senate’s Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs committee. The Act must now go through votes in both chambers and be signed into law by the President.

CDMO Sterling Pharma Solutions has announced a $3 million investment in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development and manufacturing at its facility at Germantown, Wisconsin. It has commissioned a dedicated GMP suite, which will incorporate a modular isolator with containment capabilities down to less than 1 ng/m³.

CEFIC sector group the European Fine Chemicals Group (EFCG), which represents some 350 API and fine chemical sites in Europe, has joined the Critical Medicines Alliance. This is a European Commission initiative that seeks to bring stakeholders together to share challenges and determine the most suitable actions to rebuild resilience in European medicine supply chains

Lonza has launched its AI-enabled route scouting service offering for small molecules, which combines AI-enabled computer-aided synthesis planning technology from Elsevier operation Reaxys with its own process R&D expertise and supply chain databases. This aims to streamline synthetic route identification.