Azelis has announced the opening of new laboratories within the space of a month. Each covers different applications and is located on different continent.

A new pharmaceuticals and healthcare application laboratory in Courbevoie, France, complements existing ones in the UK and Turkey, the company said. It is equipped to address challenges in areas such as API solubilisation and bioavailability, compliance, counterfeiting and misuse, and the optimisation of formulations and production processes.

Draslovka, a multi-family-owned Czech speciality chemicals firm, has agreed to acquire the Mining Solutions business of Chemours for $520 million, or 10 x EBITDA in 2020. This came shortly after its agreement to buy Sasol’s sodium cyanide business $101.7 million. CEO Pavel Bruzek said that the deals were “highly synergistic” with each other.

Global chemical distributor IMCD has made two further acquisitions to expand its presence in South African distributor Siyeza Fine Chem and VitaQualy of Brazil. Terms were not disclosed in either case.

Johannesburg-based Sizeya was founded in is active in pharmaceutical, veterinary, food and personal care speciality chemical ingredients. It employs 27 people, who will remain with the firm and generated a revenue of €11.7 million in 2019. The deal will close at the end of 2020, subject to customary regulatory review.