Wacker Chemie has opened its regional innovation centre at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The building covers 13,000 m² on a 70,000 m² site and will bring R&D in biotech and silicone under one roof in over 20 technical and analytical laboratories.

This will also be the headquarters of the Wacker subsidiary managing business activities in North and Central America. Some 50 employees will relocate there from another site Adrian, also in Michigan, where the company has produced silicones for over 50 years.

CDMO EuroAPI has been listed on the Euronext Paris market as of 5 May. CEO Karl Rotthier said that the listing “marks an exciting milestone for the development of our company as it will enable us to consolidate our leadership in the dynamic API market”.

Solvay has launched a growth platform focused on renewable materials and biotechnology, complementing existing ones in battery materials, green hydrogen and thermoplastic composites. This will focus on developing sustainable products for multiple markets using renewable feedstocks and biotechnology.

“The new platform will bring together several Solvay businesses to help meet growing demand for sustainable solutions by increasing the share of renewable carbon in Solvay’s product offering and developing new business opportunities enabled by biotechnology,” the company stated. I

Private equity firm Atorg has agreed to acquire CDMO CordenPharma from International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), subject to customary regulatory approvals. The founders, Patrick Schnitzer and Dr Achim Riemann, will also reinvest in the firm and CEO Michael Quirmbach remains in place.

The European Commission has published a Restrictions Roadmap under REACH, describing this as “an important step forward to provide detailed information on all ongoing work on future restrictions under the EU chemical legislation”.

CDMO Onyx Scientific has opened a second facility at its headquarters site in Sunderland, UK.This doubles its footprint and allows for expansion of all CMC activities, including additional GMP facilities that increases capacity for GMP and commercial API manufacturing capacity by 50%.

BASF’s board has decided to also wind down all business activities in Russia and Belarus by the beginning of July, except those needed to support food production. The company said that the decision was driven by the recent developments in the war in Ukraine and international law, including the fifth sanctions package by the EU.