Together for Sustainability (TfS), the industry initiative for sustainable chemical supply chains, is launching the TfS Academy. It calls this a “free capability-building and learning offering for its member companies and their suppliers”, enabling them to keep on top of the latest recommendations and expectations in the area of sustainable procurement.

Drug development firm CatSci has secured £4.5 million of investment from ‘alternative lender’ Boost & Co. This is described as a continuation of the Cardiff-based firm’s £3 million investment, which was started in 2021.

CatSci will use the funding to install new equipment and expand its laboratories by adding capabilities in chemical and analytical development, material science, product formulation and GMP analytical testing in both Cardiff and London. Some will be used to refinance its existing debt.

Private equity firm Cinven has agreed to acquire Bayer’s Environmental Science Professional (ESP) business for €2.4 billion. The deal should close in Q2, subject to customary closing conditions. Bayer had originally announced plans to divest the business, which is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, in February 2021.

ESP offers pest, disease and weed control in non-agricultural areas such as vector control, professional pest management, vegetation management, forestry, turf and ornamentals. In 2021, it employed about 800 people in over 100 countries.

Clariant, Solvay, Chemours and Novozymes have all announced plans to suspend business with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. They have all also pledged support for employees in the affected countries and made donations to support relief operations.

Clariant suspended operations with immediate effect. CEO Conrad Keijzer said: “Continuing to do business under these circumstances is incompatible with our purpose and values”. The company has a sales office and a laboratory in Moscow, which contribute about 2% of its sales. It also employs 146 people in Ukraine.

Chicago-based carbon capture and transformation (CCT) firm LanzaTech has announced plans to launch on the Nasdaq. This follows an agreed to combine through a business combination transaction with AMCI Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company. Closing is expected in Q3, subject to approval by stockholders on both sides.

Lonza has completed an expansion at its API manufacturing site at Nansha, China, as part of its recent investment to expand mid-scale capacity there. This focused on extending the capabilities and capacity of development laboratories and kilo-scale cGMP manufacturing laboratories for clinical supply of HPAPIs.

Waste2Func, a European BBI-JU funded project, has been granted €6.7 million to build a technology platform. This will collect food waste from agriculture, food manufacturing, supermarkets, auctions and restaurants, and convert it via fermentation and purification into lactic acid and biosurfactants with applications in cosmetics, personal care and household care products. The project began in June 2021 and will end in November 2024, with a total budget of €13.965 million.