IMCD has acquired three companies in recent weeks, two in Israel and one in Colombia. Terms were not disclosed in any of the deals. The three are:

* The import and distribution business of Tagra Biotechnologies, an Israeli distributor and supplier of raw materials and ingredients for cosmetics and personal care

* KOI Products Solutions, an Israeli distributor of speciality products mainly for the composite, paint, cosmetics, coatings and ink markets

* Allianz Group International, a distributor of APIs in Colombia T

EuroAPI has begun an initial, multi-million-Euro, four-year manufacturing agreement with Novéal, part of the L’Oréal Group. Under this, its CDMO business will develop and industrialise the manufacturing of cosmetic ingredients, with a focus on developing eco-responsible processes.

The deal encompasses several projects, the first of which will take place at the Frankfurt site, which has a dedicated line of complex chemistry production. Chief CDMO officer Cécile Maupas described cosmetics as “a new and growing segment for the business”.

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.

Solvay has agreed a multi-year strategic collaboration with US firm Ginkgo Bioworks, which was formerly Zymergen. Under this, Solvay said, they will join forces “to unlock the power of synthetic biology as an enabler of more sustainable chemicals and materials, contributing to the transition towards more environmentally friendly solutions”.

Holiferm has revealed that the Mayor of Wirral, Jeff Green, opened its first commercial biosurfactant plant at Ocean Park in Wallasey, UK, on 16 February. Present were representatives of the global biosurfactant community, including people from Japan, Thailand, South Africa, Germany, France, Belgium and Australia.

Croda International has bought Solus Biotech from Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials for about $277 million, subject to regulatory approval. Solus Biotech makes biotechnology-derived beauty actives, notably naturally derived powder ceramides and GMP phospholipids for both pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Both are high-growth markets, with the number of new personal care products containing ceramides doubling over the last five years.

Symrise has made an unspecified investment to take a minority stake in Israeli biotech Synergio, with the option of owning a majority in future. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

Based in Jerusalem, Synergio specialises in developing natural antimicrobial combinations from plants for product protection, using a data-driven, biochemistry-based, computational platform. Symrise is already a major player in this field within the personal care sector and sees growth opportunities in working together with Synergio.