Manufacturing news briefs - stories you might have missed

Pharmaceutical development company IDT Australia has secured a follow on contract with pharma giant Sanofi Australia for preclinical formulation, development and manufacture of Sanofi’s messenger RNA (mRNA). The contract, worth up to $4 million, continues the company’s advancement of mRNA-based vaccine formulation, development and manufacture at IDT’s aseptic sterile injectables filling facilities in Melbourne. The contract follows another in April worth up to b$2.5 million and contributes to Sanofi’s translational clinical programme.

Austal USA has successfully launched the future USS Pierre (LCS 38, pictured)), the 19th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), for the US Navy. Austal USA’s test and activation team will now spend the next several months preparing her for sea trials, to be completed later this year. Pierre is the second US Navy ship to be launched at Austal USA in 2024. The LCS is a 127-metre high-speed trimaran hull warship, designed for near-shore environments but capable of open-ocean operation.

A company set up by University of Adelaide experts will join EnergyLab’s climate solutions accelerator programme and will further develop its solutions to improve battery performance. OptiGrid Pty Ltd is a spin-off from the University of Adelaide set up by PhD candidates Sahand Karimi and Trong Nam Dinh with support from co-founder Dr Ali Pourmousavi Kani, Senior Lecturer, School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. The company provides AI-enabled tools for large-scale battery operation that increases revenue by optimising their operations. OptiGrid’s CEO Sahand Karimi said: “OptiForecaster delivers accurate forecasts of wholesale electricity prices, and OptiBidder intelligently manages asset operation and market bidding.”

Hydrogen fuel cell power generation manufacturer Mynt Energy Tech Managing Director Gary Radford announced the launch of the company’s Purple hydrogen powered light towers that are fully self contained zero emission replacements for diesel. Radford said: “They operate via a H2 fuel cell and a changeout hydrogen gas bottle system with 120 hours plus between refuelling. Our full production version called the Glowbug is on the way and includes an integrated solar hybrid system.” Purple is the company’s range of fuel cell generation products, with the Glowbug an industry first, combining solar with the range extending capability of hydrogen.

Amplia Therapeutics has received a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive refund of $3.2 million for the 2023/2024 financial year. The refund relates to expenditure incurred with the Company’s FAK inhibitors, narmafotinib (AMP945) and AMP886 drug candidates. Narmafotinib is in Phase 1b/2a clinical trial clinical trials in advanced pancreatic cancer patients. The company will repay the loan of $1,467,000 received from Director Dr Robert Peach along.

Ground has been broken on the Lumsden Point Access Road and Pinga Street intersection upgrades to support the Pilbara Hydrogen Hub at Port Hedland, the federal government announced on Tuesday. Road and intersection work at Lumsden Point will support the import of wind turbine and renewable energy components, as well as the export of battery metals such as lithium and copper concentrates. A new grade-separated rotary interchange will also be constructed at the intersection of Great Northern Highway and Pinga Street. Lumsden Point was described as an alternative import facility to Fremantle. The federal government has committed $565 million in grant funding to support common user port upgrades at Port Hedland and Dampier in the Pilbara.

The federal government released Australia’s new National Science Statement and National Science and Research Priorities on Monday, “placing science at the forefront of our industrial transformation.” Industry minister Ed Husic said it had been nearly a decade since the last released of such priorities. The updated framework “elevates Indigenous knowledge systems” and will also “better prepare the nation to face future pandemics, adapt to a changing climate, and respond to rapid developments in artificial intelligence and automation” according to the release. Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley, led the consultation process. “Science is at the heart of almost every aspect of our lives, and is especially important as we tackle today’s challenges,” said Foley. “These priorities are a great starting point, and I hope we can come together as a science and research community with industry and government to bring them to life.”

BlueScope Steel has been issued with a $30,000 fine after a failure in the coke ovens at its Port Kembla Steelworks allegedly caused significant air emissions, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has announced. Coke ovens are heating chambers used to turn coal into coke for the ironmaking process. The EPA said the incident “occurred during a control system software update, which compromised the system” and saw “a significant amount of coke oven gas was released for a period of up to five minutes across multiple locations.” According to NSW EPA Director of Operations, Adam Gilligan, BlueScope failed to implement safeguards to ensure the gas emissions were minimised or prevented, and “failed to identify the operation of critical control valves as a potential issue.” BlueScope immediately self-reported the incident and co-operated with the investigation, the EPA noted.

Not-for-profit organisation the Geelong Manufacturing Council is currently hiring, it has announced. According to the listing added to Seek at the weekend, GMC is seeking to fill the newly-created role of Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships Lead. The job ad notes: “The position requires the incumbent to develop and implement strategies that drive member and partner satisfaction, retention and growth” at the organisation. More information can be found here.

Picture: credit Austal