IN BRIEF
Fujifilm completes plant Fujifilm has completed construction at a new factory for advanced semiconductor materials in Pyeongtaek , South Korea . Due to be fully operational by the end of the year , it will make colour filter materials for image sensors , which are used to concert light into electrical signals for visual displays , a market the company said is growing at about 7 %/ year .
Solugen gets DOE loan Solugen will use a conditional commitment for a $ 213.6 million loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy ( DOE ) Loan Programmes Office to build the 46,000 m 2 Bioforge Marshall facility in Marshall , Minnesota , on which it broke ground in April . Due to open in 2H 2025 , the facility will take dextrose from ADM ’ s adjacent corn processing complex and convert it to organic acids for multiple uses .
Posco in Honda deal Following discussions since April 2023 , South Korea ’ s Posco Future M and Honda have reached a basic agreement on a collaboration for the production of cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries in Canada for the North American market . They will now begin detailed discussions with the goal of signing a joint venture agreement before the end of 2024 .
Trillium chooses site Trillium Renewable Chemicals has chosen Ineos Nitriles ’ Green Lake facility in Port Lavaca , Texas , as the site for Project Falcon demonstration plant for converting plant-based glycerol into acrylonitrile . This should begin operations in early 2025 and will help to validate commercial-scale economics and product carbon footprint at scale , the company said .
Siegfried acquires Curia site in US
Swiss CDMO Siegfried has acquired a drug substances site in Grafton , Wisconsin , from Curia Global . No financial details were disclosed , other than that the acquisition is being financed from existing funds and will not change Siegfried ' s outlook for 2024 and mid-term financial targets
The site employs over 80 and specialises in earlyphase development and manufacturing services . Siegfried said that this would strengthen its drug substance offer in terms of both
Suter – Deal will create new opportunities capabilities and geographical coverage . It intends to develop the site into a best-in-class hub for early-phase CDMO work , including services for projects with highly potent APIs .
“ Siegfried now offers an integrated range of services from earlystage development to commercial production of APIs through to the manufacturing of fully formulated drug products ,” commented CFO and acting CEO Reto Suter . “ This transaction will generate attractive opportunities and will further accelerate our growth story .”
Consortium enters pandemic readiness
Following an expansion and qualification phase , the consortium formed by Wacker Chemie and CordenPharma in Germany officially entered ‘ pandemic readiness ’ for the production of mRNA-based vaccines as of 1 June . They are now in stand-by phase and will receive a fee from the government for keeping their capacity and expertise available for at least five years . In all , they will be able to produce 80 million doses / year at short notice .
Wacker would produce the essential starting material plasmid
DNA and mRNA , and formulate it using lipid nanoparticles at the site in Halle , where it recently established its mRNA Competence Centre .
CordenPharma , meanwhile , would manufacture custom and standard lipids , and provide aseptic fill-finish and packaging at sites in Germany , France and Italy . During the qualification phase , the company invested in new lipid purification capacity and capabilities using supercritical fluid chromatography , plus compounding and freezing equipment .
10 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981