In This Issue
Dementia?s next test
A wave of diagnostics is poised to make testing cheaper and faster. ? 2024 Brian Stauffer c/o Theispot
Plotting the low-carbon future
At a Houston petrochemical conference, executives acknowledged the need for government incentives
The rise of subscription-based AI platforms for drug discovery
Claiming a democratization of the field, companies are increasingly offering AI-based services to a wider audience
COVER STORY
Will new Alzheimer’s tests make the grade?
A wave of diagnostics is poised to make testing cheaper and faster
SCIENCE CONCENTRATES
Sex hormones’ effect on cultured cells depends on chromosomal background
Researchers observe growth difference driven by sex of cell donor
Implantable batteries could run on body’s oxygen
Proof-of-concept device points at using the body’s oxygen and sodium to power medical implants
Antiviral provides postexposure protection against ebolavirus in monkeys
Study of possible prodrug showed it protected monkeys exposed to Sudan ebolavirus
Electrons’ speed key to photon upconversion
Certain materials give excited molecules enough time to align and upconvert photons
Hierarchical epigenetics
An animal’s position in hierarchical hyena packs influences her gene expression
BUSINESS CONCENTRATES
Big spandex maker going biobased
Hyosung is planning a fermentation facility to make the spandex precursor 1,4-butanediol
Lonza poaches new CEO from rival
Wolfgang Wienand, Siegfried’s current CEO, will be the fifth chief in five years
Verve switches LNP for its gene-editing medicine
Adverse effects show that LNP choice is tricky, despite success in COVID-19 vaccines
Goldman Sachs leads $132 million investment in cancer start-up Alterome
Alterome Therapeutics will use the funds to get two drug candidates into human studies
SLB makes oil-field, carbon-capture acquisitions
SLB, the oil-field service firm formerly known as Schlumberger, has inked a pair of acquisitions: one to enhance its expertise in pulling oil out of the ground and the other to capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources. The company has agreed to buy ChampionX in an all-stock transaction worth $7.8 billion. ChampionX had $3.8 billion in sales in 2023, about two-thirds of which came from chemicals used in oil production. It was formed in 2020 when Ecolab merged its oil-field chemical business with the oil-field service firm Apergy. SLB says the acquisition will enhance its oil-recovery offering for customers. Separately,...
Chemours wraps up financial probe
Chemours’s board of directors has completed an internal review of accounting irregularities that led to the ouster of CEO Mark Newman. In February, Newman was placed on leave pending the review. The probe found that $100 million in payments from Chemours to vendors due in the fourth quarter of 2023 were delayed until the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Chemours’s collection of $260 million in receivables due in the first quarter of this year was pushed to the fourth quarter of 2023. The moves boosted the company’s cash flow numbers. The audit found similar gaming in 2022 of $40...
Kuraray plans barrier resin plant
Kuraray plans to invest $410 million to build an ethylene vinyl alcohol plant in Singapore. The plant, which will have 18,000 metric tons (t) per year of capacity, will start up in 2026. Ethylene vinyl alcohol has very low oxygen permeability and is used a gas-barrier layer in food packaging. The company sees growth in this market—some 5–6% per year—largely because the resin doesn’t interfere with recycling of the mostly polyolefin packaging materials as much as aluminum foil or nylon layers do.
Nexeon breaks ground on anode plant
Nexeon has started construction on a facility in Gunsan, South Korea, that will make silicon-rich anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Silicon can store more energy than graphite , the anode material typically used in lithium-ion batteries. In July, Nexeon announced that it would supply its silicon anode materials to the battery maker Panasonic. Late last year, Group14 Technologies finished building a silicon anode plant in South Korea, and expects to start up a similar plant in the state of Washington this year. Sila is also building a silicon anode plant in Washington.
Sanyo Chemical pulls back in China
Japan’s Sanyo Chemical Industries will exit three businesses based in Nantong, China. The firm says it will transfer its superabsorbent polymer business to an unnamed Chinese company and close its plant there. Sanyo was the first Japanese maker of the disposable-diaper polymers to set up in China, in 2003, but it says competition has grown and profitability has fallen. Sanyo will also cease production of surfactants and urethane resins in Nantong, citing growing competition.
AgroFresh acquires competitor Pace
AgroFresh has acquired Pace International, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical that makes edible fruit coatings and other products to prevent food spoilage . AgroFresh commercialized 1-methylcyclopropene, a molecule that slows fruit ripening, and now offers a range of products to prevent food waste. AgroFresh says it will also work with Sumitomo to develop new products.
Direct-air-capture firm ZeoDAC launches
The start-up ZeoDAC has launched to commercialize an amine-free chemistry to capture carbon dioxide directly out of ambient air. The California Institute of Technology spinout has the financial backing of Coca-Cola, the California Institute of Technology , and three venture capital firms. ZeoDAC uses a commercially available zeolite as its capture medium, a contrast to the amine-based media that dominate in most point-source and ambient-air CO 2 capture systems.
Next Wave completes alkylate plant
Next Wave Energy Partners has completed a plant in Pasadena, Texas, that converts ethylene into alkylate, a high-octane component that is blended into gasoline. Alkylate is usually produced in refineries by reacting butene and other olefins with isobutane. Next Wave says production of its alkylate, which is derived entirely from natural gas, is less greenhouse gas intensive. The plant will consume about 500,000 metric tons of ethylene per year. For its next project, Next Wave is aiming to make ethylene, alkylate, and sustainable aviation fuel from ethanol.
BioConsortia raises cash for crop microbes
BioConsortia, a developer of beneficial microbes for agriculture, has raised $15 million in additional funding from investors including Otter Capital. The Davis, California–based firm is developing microbial products that increase yields by fixing nitrogen or controlling soil pests such as insects, nematodes, and fungi. It says it will put the cash toward enlarging its labs to accommodate a growing microbial-gene-editing team and for upgrading fermentation and formulation capabilities.
Genmab to acquire ADC maker
Genmab is slated to acquire antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC) developer ProfoundBio for $1.8 billion. The Danish pharma firm will gain three clinical-stage drug candidates: rinatabart sesutecan, an ADC that targets folate receptor α in ovarian cancer and other solid tumors; PRO1160, an ADC that targets CD70 in kidney and nasopharyngeal cancers and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; and PRO1107, an ADC that targets the enzyme PTK7 in solid tumors . Genmab will also inherit ProfoundBio’s ADC development platforms.
Neurosterix launches with schizophrenia drug
The biopharmaceutical firm Neurosterix launched with $63 million in series A financing. Its lead drug candidate is a positive allosteric modulator of muscarinic receptors for the treatment of schizophrenia, which differs from muscarinic agonists further along in development . The company has acquired an allosteric modulator discovery technology from Addex Pharmaceuticals, which allows it to discover and test possible drugs. Tim Dyer, the CEO of Neurosterix, says phase 1 trials for its lead molecule are expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
Agonist-antibody developer launches
Diagonal Therapeutics launched with $128 million in series A financing. The company focuses on developing agonist antibodies. Instead of inhibiting a specific cellular function like conventional antibody treatments do, agonist antibodies bind two receptors together, activating them. According to the company, its Diagonal platform tests billions of possible receptor combinations . The company’s lead program is a treatment for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, a severe bleeding disorder.
Business Roundup
JGC Holding s has been awarded the design contract for a green hydrogen and methylcyclohexane plant that the Japanese companies Eneos and Sumitomo Corporation plan to build in Malaysia. The plant will have 90,000 metric tons of hydrogen capacity per year. Polynt has signed a tentative agreement to buy Polyprocess, a French maker of gel coats and color pastes for the composites industry. Based in Italy, Polynt makes unsaturated polyesters and other resins. Magrathea Metals , a start-up aiming to produce magnesium metal from salt water, has secured a supply of brine for its pilot plant in Oakland, California. In...
POLICY CONCENTRATES
Court approves $10 billion PFAS settlement
3M to pay public utilities to resolve lawsuits over ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water
Gates mandates preprints
Big research funder also says it will stop paying article-processing charges
US will deploy $4 billion more in cleantech subsidies
Tax credits benefit greenhouse gas reductions and clean energy at industrial sites
FEATURES
Almond waste is a growing challenge
Can processing by-products benefit farmers’ profits and the environment?
Plotting the low-carbon future
At a Houston petrochemical conference, executives acknowledged the need for government incentives
The rise of subscription-based AI platforms for drug discovery
Claiming a democratization of the field, companies are increasingly offering AI-based services to a wider audience
Reenergize your career
It’s almost Chemists Celebrate Earth Week, April 21–27, and this year’s theme is “Get a Charge Out of Chemistry.” While batteries can be used to power all kinds of things, sometimes they do need to be recharged—just like careers. Occasionally, you might feel bored with your career and need to reenergize yourself. The following are a few tips for ways to inject some energy into your career and get yourself excited about your profession again. Try something new. Take on a new project that lets you learn a new skill. Maybe you’re the resident expert at writing manuscripts, but you’ve...
ACS NEWS
The future of ACS meetings
The American Chemical Society Committee on Meetings and Expositions (M&E) is responsible for the meetings function of ACS. This committee works closely with the ACS Department of Meetings and Expositions Services to ensure that ACS is a successful convener for the chemistry enterprise, where individuals can share science and network. The vision of M&E is “meetings that advance the global chemistry enterprise.” Toward that end, the committee’s mission is to “provide premiere meeting venues and platforms to amplify interdisciplinary chemical sciences and networking that are accessible and inclusive for all.” One primary focus for M&E is the ACS Future of...
ACS announces candidates for 2024 fall elections
The American Chemical Society Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E) has announced the slate of candidates that will appear on the 2024 ACS fall election ballot. Winning candidates will serve on the ACS Board of Directors from 2025 through 2027. At the ACS Spring 2024 meeting, the ACS Council selected two candidates to run for 2025 president-elect. Those candidates are Rigoberto Hernandez , a professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and Laura Sremaniak , a teaching professor and associate department head in the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University. They will join a third...
NEWSCRIPTS
Bugs who hop islands
Mind your toes Beachgoers beware! A giant water bug has made its way to the island of Cyprus. Measuring as long as 12 cm, Lethocerus patruelis has never been recorded so far from the mainland until now ( J. Grigore Antipa Natl. Mus. Nat. Hist. 2023, DOI: 10.3897/travaux.66 .e94457 ). Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, the countries closest to the east side of the island where the bug was found, would be at least a 100 km trek. So how did the creature pull off the island hop? Perhaps pure grit. Also known as the toe biter, the giant water bug...
EDITOR'S PAGE
Storytelling and science journalism’s future
As reports pile in about news outlets laying off their science reporters or shutting down altogether, it’s difficult to predict where science journalism is going. And it’s difficult to consolidate that angst with the idea that there are people who crave updates about what’s happening in their field and the areas that interest them. It’s another challenge to assess how those factors should influence publications such as our own as we stride into the future. Most recent news about media, and missives from peers and colleagues at career crossroads, are filled with unsettling or upsetting details about the state of...
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