Swamini Kulkarni of Allied Market Research looks at the different types of agricultural adjuvants available and the increased popularity of silicones

Over the years, the agricultural sector has witnessed numerous technological innovations to improve the overall performance of agrochemicals and increase agricultural yield. The major contributor to this is agricultural adjuvants, a type of additive that is added to agrochemicals or other crop production products to improve their performance.

Lonza has completed the expansion of a multi-purpose. kilogram-scale HPAPI manufacturing suite at its main site in Visp, Switzerland. This adds development and manufacturing capacity for ADC payloads, “supporting the entire development and manufacturing pipeline from feasibility studies to commercial supply”.

Stepan has entered agreed to the surfactant business and associated assets of PerformanX Specialty Chemicals in a deal that should close in Q3.

The proposed acquisition of US-based Snapdragon Chemistry by the Chinese CDMO Asymchem Laboratories has been abandoned. The two firms were unable to agree mitigation terms that would satisfy the US Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

A research team involving Evonik and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) in germany has claimed a breakthrough in hydroformylation, an important reaction in industrial organic chemistry where unsaturated compounds are converted into aldehydes and alcohols using synthesis gas. This has been published in Science.

SK Capital Partners have made an investment in VanDeMark Chemical in partnership with Comvest Partners, which has been a co-owner since 2019. The amount involved was not disclosed but VanDeMark said that this would “serve as a catalyst for a new strategic direction as the company seeks to deepen and expand its presence in fine chemistries for the global life science market”.

Evonik has opened a $2.5 million ‘innovation hub’ at its site in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Described as part of its broader globalisation strategy for RD&I, this comprises several testing and processing labs, a pilot plant and a newly designed collaboration space “to support a hybrid and creative work environment”. In all, it will create 50 jobs for scientists, engineers and lab technicians, in addition to 300 already there.