CHEMICALS

German, California Firms to Team Up: The joint venture between BASF and Lynx Therapeutics Inc. of Hayward will focus on developing technology for early identification of the side effects of chemicals. Lynx was founded in 1992 and has 55 employees. It is the first U.S. biotechnology company to invest in Germany with a German company in the area of gene technology. BASF will hold 51% in the joint venture, to be called BASF-Lynx Bioscience and based in Heidelberg, Germany. The overall investment to form the venture will be $67 million.