Chemical industry – Page 107
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Business
Business roundup: February 2009
Dow’s Rohm and Haas deal on the rocks Despite having cleared European regulatory hurdles, Dow’s takeover of Rohm and Haas is hanging in the balance after state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) scuttled their $17.4 billion (£11.9 billion) K-Dow joint venture deal just days before it was set to close. ...
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Business
Business roundup: January 2009
EU slams pharma delaying tactics Pharmaceutical manufacturers have been criticised by the EU competition commission for slowing the entry of generic medicines to the market. It says that such practices cost EU taxpayers €3 billion between 2000 and 2007. The accusations come in a preliminary report on the Commission’s inquiry ...
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Business
Business roundup: December 2008
GSK snaps up hepatitis expert In a bid to strengthen its position in the race to develop new hepatitis therapies, UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to buy Genelabs Technologies in a deal worth $57 million (£35 million). Source: © ISM / Science Photo Library Liver cells ...
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Business
Business roundup: November 2008
Huntsman wins Hexion court fight Huntsman has won its legal battle to force Hexion to honour its $10.6 billion (?5.4 billion) takeover deal, originally agreed in July 2007. In June 2008, Hexion declared that it was taking legal action in a bid to back out of the deal, claiming that ...
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Business
Business roundup: October 2008
BASF to buy Ciba Struggling Swiss speciality chemicals group Ciba has agreed to a SF6.1 billion (£3 billion) takeover deal by Germany’s BASF. Source: © AP PHOTOS Jurgen Hambrecht of BASF and Armin Meyer of Ciba On 15 September BASF announced its offer to buy Ciba shares ...
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Opinion
A means to an end
Derek Lowe remembers leaving the ivory towers of academe to trade 'unusual and beautiful' for 'useful'
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Business
Business roundup: September 2008
Agrochemicals companies make hay The booming global farming sector made agrochemicals the business to be in for chemical companies in the second quarter of 2008. The latest financial results show crop protection product sales continue to grow strongly - although earnings in other areas fared less well. US giant Dow’s ...
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Opinion
Reaction variety – the spice of life?
Derek Lowe is looking for a little more variety among his reactions
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Business
Business roundup: August 2008
Dow’s $19 billion merger Dow Chemical has announced a $19 billion (£9.5 billion) deal to buy Philadelphia-based speciality chemicals firm Rohm and Haas, a move Dow claims will make it the world’s leading speciality chemical and advanced materials company. Source: © AP PHOTOS The deal will create the ...
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Business
Business roundup: July 2008
Squeezed margins push up prices Rising energy, feedstock and transportation costs are squeezing the chemical sector’s profit margins - and triggering some dramatic price rises as companies try to pass the costs on. On 28 May US chemicals giant Dow announced it would raise price across its entire product portfolio ...
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Opinion
Divided by a common language
Derek Lowe dreams of the day when chemists and biologists can understand each other
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Business
Business roundup: June 2008
Bisphenol A studies spark mixed messages As bottle makers and retailers move to pull products made with bisphenol A (BPA), law makers and health regulators continue to argue over the compound’s safety. Source: © GETTY IMAGES Do polycarbonate bottles pose a health risk? On 18 April, ...
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Business
Business roundup: May 2008
Experts’ damning Vytorin verdict Already troubled by disappointing clinical trial results and an ongoing investigation, US drug giants Merck and Schering Plough’s combined cholesterol treatment Vytorin has now received a damning review from leading cardiologists. Source: © MERCK / SCHERING-PLOUGH PHARMACEUTICALS Trials show Vytorin’s dual action works ...