Evotec has bought the German manufacturing operations of Japan’s Central Glass for a nominal €1. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on 1 November. The business will be renamed Evotec Drug Substance (Germany).

BASF has signed a partnership, including a strategic equity investment, in Chinese firm Ingredi. Precise details were not disclosed but BASF said that this will enable Ingredi to extend its production facilities and that the two companies will work together to “identify new solutions and commercialise these to the global personal care market”.

SK Pharmteco affiliate Ampac Fine Chemicals (AFC) has added a complex molecule chemistry and engineering centre at its main site in Rancho Cordova, California. “This expands upon our core technologies such as energetic chemistry, high potency, chromatography and continuous processing”, said Dr John Jacobsen, executive director of R&D.

A new CPHI report highlights a significant shift in the pharma outsourcing market

Hamburger Energiewerke, Hamburg’s municipal utility, is to build a biomass cogeneration facility at Sasol Chemicals’ Brunsbüttel site. When fully operational in 2025, this will supply at least 70,000 MW/year of ‘green steam’ to the site, enabling Sasol Chemicals to reduce CO₂ emissions by some 13,000 tonnes/year. The company is targeting a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Albert Angles, sales manager for Flexicon Europe, shares a case study in the use of equipment to manage difficult-to-handle powders

Japan's Kao Corporation is to double capacity for the synthetic fragrance methyl dihydrojasmonate (MDJ) at its site in Olesa, Spain, by adding a second production facility. MDJ is used to give a jasmine fragrance to a wide range of consumer products and Kao is already the leader in the 20,000 tonnes/year European market, which is projected to grow at 4% year.