Sumitomo Chemical’s aluminum business got its start in 1934 when Sumitomo Aluminium Smelting Co., Ltd. was established. In 1976, it had the largest aluminum production capacity in Japan, and from the late 1960s to the 1970s, Sumitomo Chemical began to engage in aluminum smelting in such countries as Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil. After the oil crises in the 1970s, the Company withdrew from aluminum smelting in Japan and shifted to the business of importing and reselling aluminum ingots procured from aluminum smelting entities in the countries mentioned above. This has provided a stable supply of aluminum to many customers in Japan, including those in the fields of housing construction materials, electric wires, packaging materials, electronic components, and automotive parts.

Sumitomo Chemical has decided to sell its shares in overseas aluminum smelting companies, including NAAC, and to withdraw from the imported ingots resale business, considering the significant impact international aluminum market conditions have on this business, and its high volatility in terms of profitability. The Sumitomo Chemical Group is accelerating its short-term intensive performance improvement measures aimed at ensuring a V-shaped recovery in fiscal 2024 and strengthening its financial position to lay the groundwork for future fundamental structural reforms. This decision comes as part of the Group’s efforts to transform its business portfolio.

Sumitomo Chemical’s inorganic materials business, which includes aluminum and alumina materials, builds on the technological prowess, human talent, and other business resources developed in the Company’s aluminum smelting business. As for high-purity aluminum and high-purity alumina manufactured at its Ehime Works, Sumitomo Chemical will invest more resources to expand business, with a focus on high value-added fields, such as semiconductors and life sciences.

* News release: “Sumitomo Chemical Announces Sale of its Shares in Two Overseas Aluminum Smelting Companies” May. 31, 2024

Reference

Overview of Nippon Amazon Aluminium Co., Ltd.

Overview of YKK AP Inc.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; "Sumitomo Chemical") and Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan; "Sumitomo Pharma") have studied restructuring measures to accelerate the development of regenerative medicine and cell therapy business by maximizing the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s synergies. These measures included establishing a new jointly-owned company by the end of fiscal 2024. Today, on December 17, 2024, Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Pharma concluded agreements concerning a joint venture that is to undertake the research and development for the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s regenerative medicine and cell therapy business. This new entity RACTHERA Co., Ltd. is scheduled to start operations on February 1, 2025.

The global market for cell therapies is estimated to be worth approximately $2.0 billion (as of 2022), and is expected to grow rapidly in coming years, at 10% to 15% annually. Meanwhile, in the Group’s medium- to long-term strategy, Sumitomo Chemical commits to solving society’s major issues in the four areas of food, ICT, healthcare, and the environment by leveraging the Group’s innovative technologies, and has designated advanced medical solutions as a new growth area that will potentially follow the growth path of its agro-solutions and ICT solutions businesses. The company is stepping up efforts to enhance its advanced medical solutions businesses, including regenerative medicine and cell therapy as well as its CDMO business^*1.

Sumitomo Pharma is a front runner in the development of cell therapy, particularly regenerative medicine and cell therapy using iPS cells, and is pursuing multiple programs. The company is developing an iPS cell-derived cell therapy for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, the first of its kind in the world, in Japan and the United States. The other programs include its clinical study of an iPS cell-derived cell therapy for the treatment of retinal pigment epithelium tear, which started in Japan in June 2023, and its clinical study of an iPS cell-derived cell therapy for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, which started in the United States in November 2024. It has also already started sales of a regenerative medicine, RETHYMIC^® (allogeneic processed thymus tissue-agdc), a one-time regenerative tissue-based therapy for pediatric congenital athymia, in the United States in March of 2022.

Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Pharma expect that making full use of Sumitomo Pharma’s technologies and advanced knowledge developed over the many years of experience in the research and development of iPS cell-derived cell therapies while also leveraging Sumitomo Chemical’s expertise in industrial engineering, analysis and evaluation, and quality management will maximize the Group’s synergies in this field. The companies will thus strive to speed up the development of the Group’s regenerative medicine and cell therapy business and accelerate its globalization, and seek to scale it to a business worth a maximum of approximately 350 billion yen by the late 2030s^*2.

Overview of the Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Joint Venture

The new joint venture RACTHERA is to become the core entity to undertake the research and development for the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s regenerative medicine and cell therapy business. Sumitomo Chemical, Sumitomo Pharma, their CDMO joint venture^*3, and RACTHERA will work as one to accelerate the growth of this business and provide new treatment options to patients as soon as possible.

*Sumitomo Pharma issued the following press release related to this matter today, Dec 17, 2024.
“Notice Regarding Company Split (Simplified Absorption-type Company Split) of the Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Business and Transfer of Subsidiary Shares”

*1 CDMO. Acronym of contract development and manufacturing organization. It is a business to develop commercial manufacturing processes and manufacture products for customers on contract. Sumitomo Chemical engages in CDMO business for small-molecule pharmaceutical active ingredients and intermediates, nucleic acid drug substances, and regenerative medicine and cell therapy products.
*2 The estimation of the business value assumes that the multiple products that are under development will be successfully launched and does not make any adjustment based on probability of success.
*3 Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Pharma established S-RACMO (pronounced as ES-RAK-mo), a regenerative medicine and cell therapy CDMO, in 2020. The joint venture, headquartered in Suita City, Osaka, Japan, is expanding its business, and construction of its new manufacturing facility is underway.

 (Reference)
“Change in Ownership Ratio in Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy CDMO,” press release dated September 30, 2024:

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Newly certified product manufactured at Sumitomo Chemical’s certified processing units*¹ (manufacturing and processing sites)

Sumitomo Chemical has also received an ISCC certification for the Ehime Works as a trader/storage*² (trading and storage operator). This enables the Company to handle all ISCC PLUS certified products.

ISCC PLUS is an international certification system to ensure that sustainable raw materials, such as recycled materials, are properly managed throughout the supply chain, including during the product manufacturing process. With this certification, Sumitomo Chemical is able to apply the mass balance approach*³ to the sale of these certified products.

The Company will sell its ISCC PLUS certified recycled products under the Meguri^TM*⁴ brand to widely promote their environmental friendliness to customers.

Sumitomo Chemical has identified the mitigation of environmental impact as one of its material issues to be addressed as management priorities. We will continue to work to promote the acquisition of this certification and the provision of certified products, and strive together with various stakeholders to achieve a sustainable society.

 [Declaration Regarding ISCC PLUS Requirements]
Sumitomo Chemical commits and declares that we will comply with the ISCC PLUS requirements, in accordance with the latest ISCC regulations, and avoid double counting our environmental contributions.

*1 Under ISCC PLUS certification, a processing unit refers to an organization that physically or chemically converts input materials.
*2 Under ISCC PLUS certification, a trader/storage refers to an operator that trades and stores ISCC PLUS certified products.
*3 In the mass balance approach, when a product is manufactured using a raw material with a certain characteristic (such as a recycled raw material) and a raw material without it, that characteristic can be allocated to a part of the output of the product based on the proportion of the raw material with that characteristic used in the manufacturing process.
*4 Sumitomo Chemical’s brand for its products and products under development obtained using recycling technology. The Company provides the Meguri^TM brand products to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.

Reference

About the Caprolactam Manufacturing Technology with the Vapor-Phase Beckmann Rearrangement Process
The technology is a process to manufacture caprolactam, the raw material of nylon 6, by using cyclohexanone oxime. It is the world’s first commercialized process to produce high-quality caprolactam without generating ammonium sulfate as byproduct.

About Sumitomo Chemical
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. is a diversified chemical company operating in the Agro & Life Solutions Sector, ICT & Mobility Solutions Sector, Advanced Medical Solutions Sector, and Essential & Green Materials Sector. Sumitomo Chemical is implementing short-term intensive performance improvement measures and, as part of these efforts, is accelerating the restructuring of its businesses. Sumitomo Chemical will steadily advance these measures to ensure a V-shaped recovery in fiscal 2024, while also carrying out fundamental structural reforms.

About HighChem
HighChem Co., Ltd. engages in trade and manufacture of chemical products. In its Trade Division, HighChem deals in a wide range of products and technologies, from those in life sciences, such as pharmaceuticals, food, and agrochemicals, to most advanced electronic materials. In the Sustainability & Innovation Division, which represents its manufacturing function, HighChem has four research centers and catalyst plants in Japan and China, and is developing and commercializing decarbonization technologies that utilize CO₂ to produce chemicals by leveraging its C1-based SEG^® Technology, which has been licensed to chemical manufacturers for producing an aggregate of 10 million tons of products annually. It is also committed to the development of biochemical technologies and next-generation battery technologies. HighChem will continue to globally operate its business centered on offering more innovative products, technologies, and services.

Sumitomo Chemical’s project to develop large-diameter GaN-on-GaN wafers^*1 for power electronics has been selected by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in the institution’s Program to Develop and Promote the Commercialization of Energy Conservation Technologies to Realize a Decarbonized Society for FY 2024^*2. Leveraging the support from this program, Sumitomo Chemical will accelerate the development of mass production technology for six-inch GaN-on-GaN wafers for power devices, and strive to contribute to achieving a more energy-efficient society.

The program implemented by NEDO aims to promote the development of innovative technologies to realize significant energy savings toward achieving a carbon-neutral society by 2050. GaN-on-GaN wafers are considered to be superior to other semiconductor materials in terms of energy efficiency, high breakdown voltage, and high current operation, and are expected to be used in the field of semiconductors for power electronics, including such applications as electrical infrastructure, data center servers, and electric vehicles.

In order to expand the use of GaN-on-GaN wafers for power electronics applications, it is imperative to increase the diameter of the wafers to a size compatible with device manufacturers’ processes. In this program, Sumitomo Chemical will work to improve technologies for both the GaN substrate and the GaN growth layer as outlined below, with the aim of developing a technology for mass-producing high-quality six-inch GaN-on-GaN wafers at low cost.

Sumitomo Chemical positions the ICT & Mobility Solutions business as one of its growth drivers. The Company will continue to be committed to developing GaN-on-GaN wafers and other products and technologies that contribute to the development of an information and communications society.

*1 A wafer with a structure in which an additional GaN (gallium nitride) layer is epitaxially grown on a GaN substrate. Unlike wafers made by the conventional method of growing a GaN layer on a substrate made of different materials, such as silicon (Si) or sapphire, this wafer is made by using the same material, GaN, for both the substrate and the growth layer, and therefore is expected to bring significant improvements in electrical and thermal characteristics and quality.
*2 This program started in FY 2021, with a total of 22 projects being adopted for FY 2024. Sumitomo Chemical’s project is to receive support from this program for three years for the developing verification phase.
*3 Hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) is a method employed to produce GaN crystals. It is cost-competitive when compared to the conventional metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) method. It is also superior in productivity. According to research conducted by Sumitomo Chemical, its epitaxial growth rate is more than 10 times that of the MOVPE method because the feed rate of the raw material gas can be easily increased.

Reference

PeptiStar was founded in 2017 to engage in the research and development, manufacturing, and sales of peptide pharmaceutical active ingredients *². Leveraging its extensive expertise, PeptiStar entered the business of contract manufacturing of nucleic acid drug substances *³ in 2021.

Sumitomo Chemical began its nucleic acid drug substance contract manufacturing business in 2013. The Company established the world’s first technology to chemically synthesize and produce at scale the high-purity gRNA necessary for genome editing therapies *⁴, and, in August 2023,  started operations at a new manufacturing plant in Oita, Japan. Through these efforts, Sumitomo Chemical has enhanced its gRNA contract manufacturing capacity. In addition, to meet increasing demand for gRNA, the Company has recently partnered with PeptiStar to establish a dual-site production system by licensing its large-scale production technology and utilizing PeptiStar’s facilities.

This capital alliance aims to further deepen the partnership between Sumitomo Chemical and PeptiStar. Going forward, Sumitomo Chemical will work with PeptiStar to advance manufacturing technologies for conjugates that combine nucleic acids and peptides.

Sumitomo Chemical will continue to strive to consolidate its position as a frontrunner in the manufacturing of nucleic acid drug substances, particularly high-purity long-chain gRNA, in anticipation of market expansion.

*1 RNA molecules used for the CRISPR Cas9 genome editing technology, designed to target specific DNA sequences. The gRNA guides Cas9, an enzyme that cuts DNA, to the target DNA sequence to edit genomes. It is characterized by having a longer chain than typical nucleic acid pharmaceuticals.
*2 Peptide pharmaceuticals are pharmaceuticals that use peptides (compounds consisting of chains of fewer than 50 amino acids) as active ingredients.
*3 Nucleic acid drugs are pharmaceuticals based on nucleic acids (DNA or RNA), and they can act directly and highly selectively on RNA, which is difficult to target with conventional pharmaceuticals.
*4 World’s first technology to produce at scale gRNA with an approximately 90% purity, as of October 4, 2021, the date of Sumitomo Chemical’s news release referenced below. This statement is based on research conducted by Sumitomo Chemical.

Reference

News release dated October 4, 2021: Sumitomo Chemical to Construct a New Manufacturing Plant for Nucleic Acid Drug Substances at Oita Works in Japan - Established the world's first large-scale production technology for high-purity gRNA for genome editing therapy –

Unlock the Power of Genome Editingカジノ シークレット 出 金 方法 Purity gRNA

A click-on agreement, also known as a clickwrap or click-through agreement, is a type of contract in which users indicate their agreement to the terms of the contract by clicking an “agree” button or following a similar process. Now that this type of contract has been adopted, it has become easier to start using CFP-TOMO^®.

1. Shifting to a Click-On Agreement
Previously, a new user needed to sign a license agreement with Sumitomo Chemical to use CFP-TOMO^®. However, for version 3.1 of the tool, this will no longer be necessary. A new user is requested to carefully review and understand the contract terms before starting to use the tool.

2. For Existing Contract Holders
Currently, over 110 companies, mainly in the chemical industry, have entered into the contract to use CFP-TOMO^®. Sumitomo Chemical will contact existing contract holders individually to request that they update CFP-TOMO^® to version 3.1. Even if contract holders do not update their contract, they will still be able to continue to use version 3.0.

Sumitomo Chemical will continue to advance collaborations with suppliers, business partners and other stakeholders to achieve carbon neutrality across society as a whole.

For more information, please visit the CFP-TOMO^® website below.
カジノ シークレット 入金 不要 ボーナス Be Addressed as Management

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CFP-TOMO Inquiry Desk: toiawasemadoguchi-cfp-tomo@ya.sumitomo-chem.co.jp