NEWS
Vertical life science campus planned for London
Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner have submitted a detailed planning application for a 23-storey , 76,500 m 2 tower on an undeveloped 3.5-hectare site at the North Quay on Canary Wharf in the Docklands area of London .
They said that this would be Europe ’ s largest and most technologically advanced life sciences facility , as well as a first of its kind vertical campus . It will be able to deliver 325,000 m 2 of laboratory and affiliated space , with the ability to provide chemistry and high containment facilities . Other features will include :
• A stacking programme , allowing for a distributed mechanical , electrical and plumbing engineering strategy , so as to provide laboratory space on every floor
• Floor plates to accommodate a range of tenant sizes and sectors , with space for expansion and maximum flexibility across the building , while encouraging collaboration by creating interconnecting communal spaces
• Enhanced fresh air , power , data and ceiling heights in comparison to those of a traditional commercial lab building
• Dedicated clinical and chemical waste facilities
• Multiple goods lifts , with oxygen monitors , freezer farms and specialised receiving and storage areas for hazardous , clinical and chemical goods
• All-electric heating and cooling to minimise greenhouse gas emissions
Canary Wharf is already home to several science-led businesses , including Genomics England and the Level39 tech hub . The location is also close to the UK regulatory agency , the MHRA , and organisations like the General Pharmaceutical Council .
would accelerate the firm ’ s growth in continuous flow process development and manufacturing . The buy follows on from the recent acquisition of Q1 Scientific and is part of strategy to expand its portfolio of specialised services for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing .
Chinese CDMO Asymchem had agreed to buy Snapdragon in February 2022 for $ 57.94 million . The two had begun collaborating in September 2020 , when Asymchem
made a strategic $ 8.5 million investment in Snapdragon that enabled the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-out to build its new facility .
Asymchem was also seeking wider opportunities from continuous flow manufacturing . However , the deal had to be abandoned in September , because the two firms were unable to agree mitigation terms that would satisfy the US Treasury ’ s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States .
ICIG acquires three more
International Chemical Investors ( ICIG ) has made a firm and binding offer to acquire sodium metal specialist Métaux Spéciaux ( MSSA ) from Nippon Soda . It has also completed the acquisitions of Inprotec from Paragon Partners and its minority co-shareholders , and of Benvic Group .
MSSA has facilities in Pomblière and La Rochelle , France , and a terminal in Pasadena , Texas . It is the largest - and only non-Chinese - producer of purified sodium metal , which goes into specialised pharmaceutical and industrial applications . It also offers special alkali metals , such as potassium and lithium , and associated chemicals .
ICIG described the buy as a further step in developing its chlor-alkali chemicals portfolio . MSSA is expected to continue to market its products and services under its own brand in collaboration with ICIG ’ s Vynova Group .
Inprotec is a contract manufacturer for industrial drying and granulation services using fluidised-bed spray granulation , coating , matrix encapsulation and spray drying technologies . It is active in the consumer goods , animal feed , cosmetics and plastic additives sectors , employing about 270 at two sites in Heitersheim , Germany .
Since buying the majority stake in Inprotec in 2018 , Munich-base private equity firm Paragon had invested more than € 20 million into expanding production facilities . Inprotec grew profitably in that time , with a high double-digit CAGR .
Former Solvay subsidiary Benvic makes highly PVC powders and compounds for multiple applications from 11 sites in France , Italy , Spain , Poland , the UK and the US . Most had been acquired under Investindustrial Growth ’ s ownership . ICIG had agreed to buy it in August and it has since received all of the necessary approvals .
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