On the heels of a move to reduce its viral vector manufacturing workforce, Thermo Fisher is beefing up its biologics production business through a $4.1 billion acquisition.

The buyout target is Solventum’s purification and filtration business, which generated about $1 billion in revenue last year and is expected to grow sales at mid- to high-single-digit percentages in the future, according to Thermo Fisher.

Premstaetten, Austria and Munich, Germany (24 February 2025) – The European Commission today approved funding for a semiconductor manufacturing facility for ams OSRAM AG (SIX: AMS) under the European Chips Act. The official funding approval from the Austrian Ministry of Economy and Labor, which is responsible for the payment of the funding, is now expected shortly. ams OSRAM plans to use the funding of up to €227 million approved by the European Commission to sustainably strengthen the development and production site in Premstaetten. In total, the company plans to invest 567 million euros in the project by 2030, when full production will begin at the headquarters in Styria.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced its largest-ever spend commitment, with plans to spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. This new pledge builds on Apple’s long history of investing in American innovation and advanced high-skilled manufacturing, and will support a wide range of initiatives that focus on artificial intelligence, silicon engineering, and skills development for students and workers across the country.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €920 million German aid measure for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden. The measure will allow Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project which will be able to produce a wide range of different types of chips. This new manufacturing plant will bring flexible production capacity to the EU and thereby strengthen Europe's security of supply, resilience and technological autonomy in semiconductor technologies, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act Communication and the Political Guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029.

BAYAN LEPAS, Malaysia, (18 February): ASE has officially launched its fifth plant in Penang, which will significantly build on the company’s strong packaging and testing capabilities in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone. The new plant is part of a strategic expansion plan that will expand the floor space of ASE’s Malaysia facility from its current area of 1 million square feet to approximately 3.4 million square feet.

Today’s launch ushers in a new era of smart manufacturing for ASE in Malaysia. Over the years, the Malaysia site has been upgrading its manufacturing operations by integrating Industry 4.0 technology and factory automation solutions. From the detection of abnormalities using AI, to improving yield and optimizing production processes through data analysis, the new plant harnesses the power of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) to enhance productivity and efficiency on the factory floor.

SINGAPORE’S semiconductor sector faces only a “limited impact” from new US technology restrictions, as these apply just to a “narrow subset” of advanced chips, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 18).

The US controls focus primarily on advanced semiconductor technology, whereas Singapore’s industry is centred on producing “mature node chips” for appliances, automotive applications and industrial equipment, Dr Tan said in response to questions from Members of Parliament.

Siemens Healthineers is significantly increasing its U.S. parts inventory and logistics capabilities with the opening of mega depots in Dayton, NJ (New York metro area) and Manteca, CA (Oakland metro area), increasing the availability of parts by nearly a third and offering unprecedented delivery flexibility to its customers.

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has been awarded €29 million of EU Chips Act money for chip packaging development under the EU APECS (Advanced Packaging and Heterogeneous Integration for Electronic Components and Systems) pilot line project.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE) CEO Wu Tien-yu (吳田玉) announced Tuesday that the company plans to establish Taiwan’s first large-scale 600x600 fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) production line in Kaohsiung.

With an investment of US$200 million (NT$6.55 billion), ASE plans to install equipment in the second quarter and begin trial runs in the third quarter, per CNA. The company will assess yield rates and quality by year-end to determine commercial viability.

Recently, BYD Energy Storage and Saudi Electricity Company successfully signed the world's largest grid-scale energy storage projects contracts with a capacity of 12.5GWh at the time. Combined with the previously delivered 2.6GWh project, the total cooperation now has amounted to a massive 15.1GWh of projects. This signing marks a solid and crucial step forward in their collaboration in the renewable energy sector, injecting strong momentum into the development of Saudi Arabia's renewable energy industry and contributing to the realization of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals. It also signifies that BYD Energy Storage has established a new milestone in global ultra-large-scale energy storage projects.