Page 161 - CW E-Magazine (5-8-2025)

News from Abroad

AstraZeneca announced in November
2024. The company expects these
investments to help deliver its goal of
reaching $80-bn in revenue by the end
of the decade, with 50% generated in
the US (from 42% at present), accord-
ing to the company statement.

“The announcement underpins our
belief in America’s innovation in bio-
pharmaceuticals and our commitment
to the millions of patients who need our
medicines in America and globally,”
said Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s CEO.

AstraZeneca is the latest pharma- Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and The flurry of fresh capital could be
ceutical company to pledge investment Roche. So far this year, pharma companies seen as an attempt to appease President
in US manufacturing in recent months, have reportedly pledged to invest over Donald Trump, who had earlier teased a
joining the likes of Biogen, Eli Lilly, $230-bn in the US in the coming years. pharma tariff of up to 200% “very soon”.
WASTE VALORISATION
Origin by Ocean and CABB Group to set up bio-

refinery for ingredients from invasive brown algae

Finnish green chemicals company, estimated $120-mn annually. However,
Origin by Ocean, and the CABB algal blooms are starting to affect
Group, a German contract develop- marine communities all around the
ment and manufacturing organisation world, not just in the Caribbean.
(CDMO) specialising in fine chemicals,
have joined hands to establish a ‘first- “As we partner with CABB and
of-a-kind’ algae biorefinery at CABB’s prepare for the construction of the first-
production site in Finland’s Kokkola of-a-kind biorefinery, we are already
Industrial Park (KIP), Northern planning for additional biorefineries in
Europe’s largest ecosystem of inorganic the Caribbean, closer to the sargassum
chemical industry. blooms. The advantage of our technology
is that we can establish facilities
The facility will use Origin by anywhere around the world. Now, we are
Ocean’s patented biorefinery technology ready to scale and actively looking for
and is set to begin operating in 2028, partners to accelerate the widespread
processing sargassum, an invasive industrial adoption of new ingredi-
brown seaweed, into high-value ingre- ents derived from brown algae,” said
dients, such as alginate, fucoidan, and coastal communities in the Caribbean Ms. Mari Granström, Chief Executive
biomass residue. Origin by Ocean will and West Africa. Producing up to 40-mt Activist and Founder of Origin by Ocean.
construct the biorefinery and CABB of biomass annually, these blooms have
will operate it under a Manufacturing rendered beaches unusable and disrup- Origin by Ocean is currently look-
as Service (MaaS) arrangement. ted local economies, especially fishing, ing for strategic investors and partners
as marine ecosystems are thrown off for the biorefinery. The market that
Fuelled by agricultural nutrient balance. According to the Government Origin by Ocean has identified can
runoffs and rising ocean temperatures, of Jamaica, cleaning up sargassum benefit immediately from algae-based
harmful algal blooms have impacted from Caribbean beaches costs an ingredients is worth $220-bn.

Chemical Weekly August 5, 2025 161

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