Sumitomo Chemical began its nucleic acid drug substance contract manufacturing business in 2013. Recently, it has focused on the large scale production of long-chain oligonucleotides called gRNA, which are necessary for genome editing therapy. The Company has established the world’s first technology to produce at scale long-chain gRNAs that are several times longer (approximately 100 mer^*3) than conventional nucleic acid drug substances, with high purity of approximately 90% and high yield^*4 A new manufacturing plant for the gRNA was established at Sumitomo Chemical’s Oita Works in Japan, and shipments to multiple customers began in fiscal 2024.

SC-AMSA is located in Marlborough, which is close to Boston, Massachusetts, where there is a large concentration of drug discovery start-up companies with high demand for gRNA. Sumitomo Chemical will provide gRNA samples from this strategically located new company to closely communicate with customers and promptly respond to their needs.

In its medium- to long-term strategy, the Sumitomo Chemical Group is committed to solving societal issues in the four fields of food, ICT, healthcare, and the environment, by leveraging its innovative technologies. The Group’s growth areas are agriculture-related and ICT-related businesses, which the Group has positioned as its current growth drivers. The Advanced Medical Solutions Sector, the next growth area following these businesses, was established in October of last year. The sector provides solutions for advanced medical treatments, including oligonucleotides, active pharmaceutical ingredients for small-molecule drugs, and regenerative medicine and cell therapy products. Sumitomo Chemical will work to enhance SC-AMSA’s functions and operations as a foothold to develop its Oligonucleotide CDMO business in the United States, the world’s largest pharmaceutical market. The Company will also explore the possibility of business expansion to grow its advanced small molecule drug CDMO business and regenerative medicine and cell therapy business in the United States.

*1 CRO is an acronym of Contract Research Organization.
*2 CDMO is an acronym of Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization, a business that undertakes process development and manufacturing for customers. Sumitomo Chemical operates CDMO businesses related to active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates for small molecule drugs, oligonucleotides, and regenerative medicine and cell therapy.
*3 The term mer represents a unit of measurements that is used to indicate the number of nucleotides contained in a nucleic acid molecule. A nucleotide is the minimum constituent of a nucleic acid molecule.
*4 Sumitomo Chemical’s technology was the first to large-scale-produce gRNA with approximately 90% purity as of its announcement of this achievement on October 4, 2021. Source: Sumitomo Chemical’s research.

Overview of the New U.S. Company

Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd.
Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. ("Sumitomo Chemical") and Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd. ("Maruzen Petrochemical"), a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. ("Cosmo Energy Holdings"), have made the following announcement.

As announced on October 28, 2024, Maruzen Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical have been exploring ways to optimize ethylene production. Maruzen Petrochemical has now decided to shut down its in-house ethylene production facilities by fiscal 2026 and consolidate production at Keiyo Ethylene, a joint venture between the two companies. This decision aims to further enhance the operating rate and competitiveness of Keiyo Ethylene.

In Japan's petrochemical industry, the severe business environment caused by the global oversupply of ethylene due to the construction and expansion of large-scale facilities in China and the decline in domestic ethylene demand has led to continued low operation rates for ethylene production facilities in Japan. In addition, there is a demand for companies to actively participate in and contribute to green transformation (GX) to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Against this backdrop, Maruzen Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical are working on optimizing ethylene production in the Chiba area based on the fundamental principle of reasonably sharing necessary costs between the two companies. By improving the operating rate of Keiyo Ethylene, which is the most advanced and largest ethylene production facility in Japan, lowering fixed costs, and reducing CO₂ emissions, the two parties will strive to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of the petrochemical complex they are part of while advancing GX initiatives.

Optimization of Ethylene Production in the Chiba Area

Image of Ethylene Production Optimization in the Chiba Area

Reference

Overview of Maruzen Petrochemical‘s Chiba Plant Ethylene Facility

Overview of Keiyo Ethylene

Related Press Releases

Joint Press Release issued by Cosmo Energy Holdings and Maruzen Petrochemical on October 28, 2024, "Maruzen Petrochemical to Start Exploring Ways to Optimize Ethylene Production”
https://www.cosmo-energy.co.jp/en/information/press/2024/241028-01.html

Press release issued by Sumitomo Chemical on October 28, 2024, "Sumitomo Chemical Begins Study for Measures to Substantially Optimize the Operations of the Joint Venture Keiyo Ethylene, Including Changes to Offtake Ratio"
와이즈 스포츠 토토 Chemical은 사업 및 제품 및 제품의 변화를

There is an increasing demand for IoT as well as high-capacity and high-speed communication in the next-generation communications field, and the market for Beyond 5G-compatible antennas is growing rapidly. The demand for high-performance antennas, including film antennas for high-speed communication, is expected to reach 100 billion yen by the early 2030s.

By leveraging its circuit formation and precision multi-layer processing technologies developed through its color filter and touch screen sensor panel businesses, Dongwoo Fine-Chem has been working to develop film antennas—sheet-like antennas with ultra-fine metal wiring formed on film substrates—for use in such devices as smartphones for next-generation communication. Dongwoo Fine-Chem’s products excel in precise microfabrication and transparency, and the market for them is developing. In 2024, they were adopted for use in South Korea’s public transportation systems.

Established in 2016, HUCOM designs and sells network communication modules. The company has built a wide customer network in South Korea with its highly regarded module designs and control software that are used by major telecommunications companies in the country.

With the acquisition of HUCOM, Dongwoo Fine-Chem will be able to establish an integrated development system and value chain from film antennas to communication modules. By combining Dongwoo Fine-Chem’s and HUCOM’s technological development capabilities and business networks, the Sumitomo Chemical Group will accelerate product development, provide total solutions to meet increasing demand in a timely manner, and further expand its business in the area of information and communication technology.

The Sumitomo Chemical Group will continue to work towards achieving a smart society by developing and commercializing innovative communication devices and materials.

Overview of HUCOM WIRELESS Co., Ltd.

In 2022, Sumitomo Chemical constructed a new pilot facility for the chemical recycling of PMMA at its Ehime Works located in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It has also implemented such initiatives as a joint project with Niihama City to recycle PMMA protective partition panels, which are used for reducing the spread of droplets, in the area, as well as providing its chemically-recycled PMMA as raw material for the acrylic jewelry sold by Star Jewelry Co., Ltd.

In addition, Sumitomo Chemical has received third-party certifications, such as the ISCC PLUS^* certification, and is making efforts to globally implementing practical recycling systems using the mass balance approach.

Sumitomo Chemical will provide its chemically recycled PMMA produced in mass production facilities for applications that require high quality, such as electronics and automotives. The Company will start selling the product to LG Display as raw material for light guide plates used in backlight units for liquid crystal displays and to Nissan Motor as raw material for lenses used in vehicle headlights.

Sumitomo Chemical is making a significant shift in its petrochemicals-related business to create value through technologies that reduce environmental impact. The value of recycled materials and products is being increasingly recognized. Staying in step with this progress, Sumitomo Chemical will scale up its chemically recycled MMA materials business, while also making the products widely available across society through technology licensing, to contribute to achieving a sustainable society.

*An international certification system to ensure that sustainable raw materials, such as recycled raw materials and biomass-derived raw materials, are properly managed in the supply chain, including in product manufacturing.

Methionine is an essential amino acid that animals cannot synthesize on their own. It is widely used as a feed additive in the livestock industry, mainly for poultry and pork feed, to increase the production of meat, because the feed, which is made mainly from corn and soybean meal, often does not contain sufficient amounts of methionine. Demand for methionine has grown at an annual rate of approximately 4 percent in recent years, and is expected to continue to grow at a similar pace.

Since April 2017, Sumitomo Chemical and ITOCHU have collaborated in methionine distribution, with Sumitomo Chemical selling part of the methionine it produces through ITOCHU. This collaboration combines Sumitomo Chemical’s cost-competitive, integrated production operation that spans from raw material inputs to finished methionine, with ITOCHU’s strong global distribution network and many years of experience in supply chain management.

Sumitomo Chemical and ITOCHU have agreed to build on this existing framework to expand their collaboration. Sumitomo Chemical will sell all of the methionine it produces through ITOCHU distribution network, and the two companies will further strengthen the methionine distribution network spanning more than 70 countries and work as one team to meet the increasing global demand for meat. By collaborating with ITOCHU, which has an excellent logistics and distribution network as well as global sales force with a wealth of experience, Sumitomo Chemical will enhance the competitiveness of its methionine business.

Sumitomo Chemical will continue to contribute to achieving a stable food supply on a global scale by providing its made-in-Japan methionine, which is well regarded for its high quality and reliable supply.

Photoresists are photosensitive resins used in the semiconductor manufacturing process to form circuit patterns and are one of the key materials in semiconductor manufacturing. The semiconductor-related market is expected to continue its high level of growth, driven by the proliferation of generative AI and the advancement of IoT as well as the expansion of data centers accompanying these developments.

In the area of photoresists, Sumitomo Chemical has established world-class product design and evaluation technologies by leveraging its organic synthesis technology cultivated in fine chemical businesses. Sumitomo Chemical’s immersion ArF photoresists, which represent the Company’s world-leading technological capabilities, are expected to see stable demand growth in line with the advancement of miniaturization and multilayering of semiconductors. Additionally, demand for i-line thick film photoresists, which are applied to high aspect ratio patterning, are also anticipated to grow due to technological innovations in the back-end process of semiconductor manufacturing. It is against these backdrops that to strengthen its development and mass production evaluation systems for immersion ArF photoresists and i-line thick film photoresists, the Company has decided to introduce advanced semiconductor lithography devices* that accommodate higher resolution requirements for the applications of each of these photoresists.

Sumitomo Chemical has implemented a series of initiatives to strengthen the photoresist business, including capacity expansion at its production plants in Japan, the establishment of new development and mass production evaluation buildings for advanced products, and the construction of new lines at its South Korean base. Including this new investment in photoresists, the Company’s capital investments in the semiconductor materials field over the past several years have reached approximately 100 billion yen. For leading-edge EUV photoresists, sales are expanding steadily, while the Company is advancing the development of next-generation EUV photoresists, such as its proprietary organic molecular photoresists. The Company will accelerate the expansion of these advanced photoresist businesses, aiming to achieve core operating profit of 100 billion yen in the ICT & Mobility Solutions sector by 2030.

*Note:
-   Lithography device for immersion ArF photoresists: This device enables extreme miniaturization required in the front-end process when applying thin film photoresists.
- Lithography device for i-line thick film photoresists: This device facilitates deep processing and enables high aspect ratio (thick film and high resolution) patterning when applying thick film photoresists, which are necessary due to the characteristics of the back-end process.

Sumitomo Chemical’s Major Investments in Semiconductor Materials in Recent Years