Hovione buys drug manufacturing facility in China

Loures, Portugal, March 6, 2008 - Hovione announces that it has purchased 75% of Hisyn Pharmaceutical Co. Limited. The Zhejiang provincial authorities have already issued the necessary business license and the joint venture (JV) is now operational.

The acquisition provides Hovione with significant additional drug substance manufacturing production capacity and strengthens its 20 year presence in China. The acquisition includes both development labs in Shanghai and an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant occupying 22,000 square meters. on a 22 acre plot employing 181 staff. Hovione's relationship with Hisyn started with the supply of intermediates, but this factory, which was commissioned in 2005 from a greenfield site, will now produce Hovione's two largest volume products.

"Hisyn represents an opportunity to both increase our manufacturing capacity and ensure a sustainable cost advantage. We find it important to provide our current customers with an assurance of competitive supply over the long run; and in addition we want to have a strong presence in new markets, such as Brazil, India and China, where price is decisive" said Miguel Calado, CFO.

The negotiation and the acquisition processes moved smoothly in part due to the experience Hovione has built in China over the last 3 decades. The Macau plant, with 5 previous FDA inspections and more than 10 years of contract manufacturing relationships in China, has enabled Hovione to effectively bridge cultures with China in every dimension: language, GMP, culture and business practices.

Luis Gomes, Vice President of Generics, and responsible for the investment and integration process added: "When we first came to the Canton fair in 1979 we were buying raw-materials that would be processed in Macau or in Portugal. For many years we felt we'd be better off being an important client of Chinese plants through contract manufacturing deals, because at that time there many JVs going very wrong. Now is the right time for Hovione to acquire infrastructure in China and tap into a growing market and leverage China’s manufacturing abilities. We are planning to invest further monies in 2008 to effectively double Hisyn's manufacturing capacity".

Hovione is an international group specializing in the development and compliant production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, serving exclusively the pharmaceutical industry. In 2006 it had sales of US$94 million (Euro 70 million). With almost 50-year in process development, quality standards and advanced particle design technologies, Hovione offers APIs for all drug delivery systems, from oral to injectable and from inhalation to topical applications. With FDA inspected plants in Europe, the Far East and New Jersey, Hovione is committed to the highest levels of service and quality. Specializing in complex chemistry, Hovione offers services related to the development and manufacture of either a new chemical entity (NCE) for an exclusive contract manufacturing partner or an existing API for an off-patent product.

For further information about Hovione, please visit the Hovione site at www.hovione.com or contact Corporate Communications (Isabel Pina, + 351 21 982 9362, e-mail: )

PR 2008/001