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Article / Jan 12, 2026

CEO Spotlight: Hovione’s Jean-Luc Herbeaux

Contract Pharma, 12 January 2026

Jean-Luc Herbeaux COO | Hovione

Hovione is an international CDMO with over 60 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, providing a comprehensive range of services for New Molecular Entities (NMEs) including drug substances, intermediates, and finished drug products. Hovione also provides niche generic API products and delivers advanced technologies to support a variety of drug delivery systems, including oral, injectable, inhalation, and topical formats. Today, the company employs 2,500 people worldwide and offers 900 m3 of manufacturing capacity.

Jean-Luc Herbeaux joined Hovione as Chief Operations Officer in 2020 and was appointed CEO in April 2022. Previously, he held multiple high-level leadership positions at Evonik, where he last headed the Health Care Business Line. Herbeaux earned a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from UTC in France and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston in the U.S.

In this Q&A with Contract Pharma, Herbeaux discusses Hovione’s leadership in spray drying and continuous tableting technologies, the fundamental purpose that drives the company, long-term growth strategies and more.

 

Contract Pharma: What are the most significant trends you are currently observing in the CDMO industry?

Jean-Luc Herbeaux: Several powerful trends are currently reshaping the CDMO industry.
First, we are seeing a rapid increase in the complexity of synthetic molecules. These compounds often require longer, more sophisticated chemical routes and access to specialized, qualified capacity. They also drive demand for advanced formulation technologies, particularly in particle engineering and bioavailability enhancement, where spray drying has become a key enabling platform.

Second, development timelines continue to compress. Sponsors want to move faster, which significantly increases the pressure on manufacturing organizations. CDMOs are expected to design, build, qualify, and scale assets in much shorter timeframes. This challenge is amplified by the simultaneous launch of very large-volume products, where commercial capacity may not yet exist and must be created in parallel with late-stage development. These dynamics clearly favor CDMOs that already have available capacity, strong engineering depth, and proven capabilities in rapid, right-first-time scale-up.

Third, the regionalization of supply chains is becoming a structural reality. Concepts such as “USA for USA” or “China for China” represent a fundamental shift for an industry that was historically optimized around globally integrated networks. CDMOs with a truly international manufacturing footprint and strong scalability are best positioned to support this transition and to meet the expectations of global pharmaceutical customers.

Finally, all these forces are accelerating the evolution of customer relationships — from transactional outsourcing toward strategic, long-term partnerships. As regulatory standards tighten and customer audits become broader and more rigorous, CDMOs aspiring to be strategic partners must go well beyond technical excellence. They must demonstrate highly professionalized operations, robust quality systems, strong governance, and the ability to integrate seamlessly into their customers’ development and supply strategies.

CP: How does Hovione maintain its leadership in spray drying and continuous tableting technologies?

Herbeaux: Establishing and maintaining leadership demands focus, discipline and commitment to continuous improvement. Decathletes are versatile but rarely dominate a single event. Similarly, I believe pharma CDMOs must decide whether to focus on selected technologies to achieve excellence or maintain a broad offering with inevitable compromises in depth and focus. At Hovione, we have chosen to specialize, dedicating over 20 years to perfecting spray drying. Thanks to this dedication, we have built unmatched know-how in particle engineering, scale-up, and industrialization, by optimizing materials, formulation, process design, automation, hardware design, and nurturing internal talents and partnerships.

Specialized CDMOs like Hovione are uniquely positioned to lead this journey, given their exposure to a far broader range of compounds than any individual pharmaceutical company encounters within its own development pipeline. Our journey in continuous tableting is more recent, yet it follows the same playbook: we apply the same disciplined, end-to-end rigor across processes, hardware, automation, talent, and partner networks to drive usability and adoption. We do so by weaving innovation and continuous improvement into everything we do, with all our team members and partners contributing.

This specialized approach has made Hovione very relevant to the pharmaceutical market, not by virtue of size or volume, but through the differentiation achieved in these areas of heightened focus. In turn, this contributes to the creation and reliable supply of superior therapies to the most important stakeholder group – patients.

CP: How is Hovione integrating new technologies and innovations in its processes?

Herbeaux: At Hovione, we believe in advancing the quality of our services through science and technology.  Our scientific expertise helps bring performance and predictability to the development and manufacturing processes we employ to deliver drug products and their intermediates to our customers, ensuring consistently high-quality results at all scales.

Our approach to innovation integrates co-development with our partners and customers to adopt innovations that accelerate development and constantly improve product and process performance. Digital tools and automation—like PAT, advanced analytics, and in silico modeling—are obviously integrated in our processes to improve control, speed, and outcomes.

By focusing on innovations that have a real impact, Hovione supports up to 10% of the NDAs submitted to the FDA on any given year and contributes to medicines that reach about 80 million patients. This reflects our dedication to improving patients’ lives. At the core of our identity is this fundamental purpose that guides everything our 2,500 team members do: “We are in it for life.”

CP: What is Hovione’s long-term strategy to grow its U.S. operations? What progress has the company made recently?

Herbeaux: The significant growth of our New Jersey site in recent years reflects the combined effect of a deliberate strategic decision to reinforce local capabilities and teams —bringing us closer to our customers and their end markets.

Our “one-site-stop” approach—bringing together drug substance, drug product intermediate, and drug product capabilities at a single site under one quality system—resonates strongly with customers. This model reduces technology-transfer complexity, compresses timelines, and enables seamless execution from development through commercialization, directly addressing customer demand for accelerated timelines.

We recently completed a $100 million investment cycle, including the construction of a 31,000 sq. ft. facility featuring two new commercial-scale size-3 spray dryers dedicated to amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). This investment more than doubles our U.S. spray-drying capacity.

The facility will also soon be equipped with a next-generation GEA continuous tableting line (CDC Flex) designed to accommodate a broad range of output levels, from development through commercial-scale volumes.

Hovione has also acquired additional land to support a future 125,000 sq. ft. greenfield development. Together, these projects have the potential, over the next decade, to transform our New Jersey site into a fully integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing campus of more than 200,000 sq. ft.

CP: What is Hovione’s growth strategy for the rest of the world beyond the U.S.?

Herbeaux: The New Jersey expansion is part of Hovione’s multi-year, multi-continent investment plan to create a network of autonomous yet harmonized sites. In Seixal, Portugal, a €200 million investment in a 104-acre campus—including new production buildings, laboratories, and offices—is scheduled to open in 2027, providing clear line of sight for new business opportunities.

In Cork, Ireland, a recently completed expansion nearly doubled our local spray-drying capacity. Together, these investments strengthen our key technology platforms— 1) amorphous solid dispersion via spray drying and 2) continuous tableting—enhancing capacity and ensuring redundancy to support global supply continuity.

CP: Are there any recent collaborations or partnerships that have been impactful for Hovione’s trajectory?

Herbeaux: Strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies (our customers) are particularly rewarding, as they entail long-term commitments, provide preferred access to rich portfolios and pipelines, and support our continuous evolution toward best-in-class performance. In recent years, we have secured a growing number of preferred supplier relationships, which have helped ensure long-term supply of complex drugs and intermediates for our partners while also mitigating risk in our own pipeline.

Another category of strategic collaborations involves partners with capabilities that are complementary to ours. Through these collaborations, we expand our innovation ecosystem, enhance our capabilities to address the industry’s toughest challenges, and leverage top industry talent to create value that benefits and respects all participants.

Our partnership with Zerion Pharma helps advance the Dispersome technology to boost bioavailability of small-molecule drugs, supported by our ASD-HIPROS intelligent screening platform to speed amorphous solid dispersion formulation development.

Our technology partnerships with Dragonfly Technologies (micellar chemistry) and Microinnova (flow chemistry) enable greener, leaner chemistry.

Our collaboration with GEA contributes to the higher adoption of continuous tableting with next generation continuous tableting machines, which are easier to use, more compact and address the customer requirement for accelerated development.

Building on our leadership in spray drying, we are partnering in systems for respiratory drug delivery, such as dry powder inhaler device technology with H&T Presspart and nasal powder delivery devices with IDC in order to present a complete offering (API, powder, and devices) to the market.

Last but not least, we are expanding our network to areas adjacent to our current commercial activities, most notably aseptic particles and formulations, with the goal of addressing drug delivery and stabilization challenges for new modalities. Our specialized synthetic sugars, which show potential in this area, came with the acquisition of ExtremoChem. We will share more details as this offering continues to mature.

CP: From a sponsor’s perspective, what should companies look for when choosing a CDMO for early-phase development of complex formulations?

Herbeaux: When faced with the difficult task of selecting a CDMO, I would recommend choosing a partner with proven capabilities in the relevant area—particularly when it comes to scaling from early development to commercial production. I would select a CDMO that helps the customer make the right scientific and technical decisions early, anticipating scale-up challenges before they arise. Ultimately, I would choose a partner for the long term, equipped with the right team (including management), equipment, methodologies, quality and regulatory expertise to de-risk both the clinical and commercial programs.

A long-term partnership fosters a transparent, collaborative model, supported by strong data protection, with the CDMO functioning as an extension of the customer’s team.  As trust is established and team dynamics are proven, partners can successfully pursue projects even beyond the CDMO’s core technologies, leveraging close collaboration and higher levels of integration to ensure successful outcomes. In my experience, nothing delivers more long-term value than a network of trusted partners.

CP: As the CDMO space becomes increasingly crowded, how is Hovione differentiating itself in the eyes of emerging biotech and mid-sized pharma clients?

Herbeaux: Our customers’ trust is our most valuable asset. It underpins every collaboration we build and is earned through the depth of our scientific expertise, efficient and reliable manufacturing, strong quality systems, sustainable practices, and long-standing regulatory excellence. This foundation is reflected in the trust placed in us by 19 of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies, as well as many mid-sized pharmaceutical companies and biotech organizations.

That trust is never taken for granted. It is earned and reinforced through our continuous efforts to help our customers address their most complex challenges and advance their drug programs with dedication, confidence and timeliness. As a family-owned company with a stable and experienced management team, we provide a clear long-term vision and consistent strategic direction—qualities our customers value highly. Having grown organically with patient outcome in mind, we deeply appreciate that every project matters—both to our pharmaceutical partners and, most importantly, to the patients whose lives depend on the successful launch and delivery of these medicines.

Emerging biotech and mid-sized pharma clients can rely on the superior level of engagement and service that has made Hovione successful. Through our integrated model, we support the development and manufacturing of drug substance, drug product intermediates, and finished drug products for both clinical and commercial applications—enabling smooth scale-up, consistent results, and accelerated timelines. Our R&D and operations teams work in close partnership, coordinated by best-in-class project management practices, to ensure fast, reliable transfer from laboratory scale to GMP industrial production, maintaining speed without compromising quality. Throughout every stage, quality and compliance remain at the core of our work, with unwavering adherence to the highest standards.

Our leadership in platforms like ASD by spray drying and continuous tableting, together with our capability to drive projects to success at any scale, remains a key source of value for emerging biotech and mid-sized pharma, especially as advanced formulation challenges grow more complex.

 

Read the full article at ContractPharma.com

 

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The podcast "The Next Discovery" is a six-episode series created by Observador, a leading Portuguese digital newspaper and radio station, in partnership with Hovione. From factory to pharmacy in far less time: how continuous tablet manufacturing is making treatments faster, more robust, and more accessible to those who need them most. What if some of the scientific breakthroughs that could improve the lives of millions of people were happening right now in Portugal? Welcome to The Next Discovery. Listen to the fourth episode of the podcast here, featuring João Ventura, Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Product Development at Hovione. [English transcription] Nelson Ferreira (NF): Welcome to The Next Discovery. This is a partnership between Rádio Observador and Hovione—a six-episode series in which we open the doors to global pharmaceutical development driven from Portugal. I’m Nelson Ferreira, and today we’ll explore a technology that is transforming the way medicines are produced and accelerating patient access to new treatments. To guide us on this journey, we’re joined by João Ventura, Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Product Development at Hovione. NF: Hello, João, and welcome. For decades, the industry relied on what is known as batch manufacturing. How did this traditional method work, and why does continuous manufacturing represent such a significant change for the pharmaceutical industry? João Ventura (JV): Thank you, Nelson, for the invitation and for that question, which is a great place to start discussing this innovation. As you mentioned, for many decades the pharmaceutical industry produced tablet medicines using the traditional batch manufacturing method. This approach involves producing a very specific quantity of product—a batch—at a time and performing each individual production step separately. This means that each subsequent step typically begins only after the entire batch from the previous stage has been manufactured, processed, collected, and sampled for quality verification. In tablet production, the process includes weighing, blending, granulation, tablet compression, and finally tablet coating. While this method is well understood, mature, and fully established from both an industrial and regulatory standpoint, it can become inefficient because material may spend a considerable amount of time sitting idle between production stages—waiting for quality checks or for equipment in the next step to become available. By contrast, continuous tablet manufacturing allows material to move continuously and automatically through all stages of the process while simultaneously monitoring the quality of the tablets being produced. This enables continuous manufacturing to deliver benefits that traditional batch manufacturing simply cannot achieve. NF: João, producing continuously certainly sounds more logical, but as I understand it, this is still a relatively new technology in the pharmaceutical industry. When did the market begin to embrace this change? JV: You're absolutely right, Nelson. As you know, the pharmaceutical industry is necessarily conservative and adopts innovation very carefully, for good reason. It was only in the early 2000s that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began encouraging the industry to develop alternative technologies that were both more agile and more robust from a quality perspective. These technologies are based on integrating and automating the entire tablet manufacturing process in a continuous flow. This required the development of a new generation of manufacturing equipment capable of performing the entire process automatically and continuously, as well as sophisticated electronics and software to monitor and inspect product quality throughout intermediate stages and in the final tablet. Following these early technological developments, the FDA approved the first continuously manufactured products from major pharmaceutical companies such as Vertex and Janssen during the 2010s. This marked a pivotal turning point and significantly accelerated adoption of continuous tablet manufacturing. NF: What practical challenges does this new system solve in day-to-day operations? I imagine there are important quality-control advantages as well, especially since you mentioned quality can be assessed throughout the process and in the final tablet. JV: Absolutely. The successful commercialization of that first wave of continuously manufactured medicines by companies such as Vertex and Janssen was extremely important because it demonstrated to the industry that this technology could deliver substantial benefits for both patients and manufacturers. First, it shortens development and production timelines for new medicines, allowing innovative therapies and new drug products to reach patients much faster than before. NF: So they can reach the market sooner as well. JV: Exactly. In addition, as you mentioned, this technology makes it possible to verify the quality of every tablet produced, rather than relying on a small sample as in batch manufacturing. That alone provides greater quality assurance and robustness, ultimately benefiting society as a whole. NF: And does that speed advantage become particularly important during medical or public health emergencies? Can this system respond more quickly to urgent demand? JV: Yes, that is one of the technology’s most significant potential advantages. In a continuous process, it’s possible to produce in minutes what might take weeks in traditional batch manufacturing due to processing delays and waiting times. Beyond the economic benefits, this offers a major advantage in medical or public health emergencies, where production of new medicines may need to be rapidly scaled up to meet urgent demand. NF: Was COVID-19 an example of that? JV: It’s a perfect example. NF: Has this technology already delivered that benefit? JV: Not yet, but we anticipate that in future pandemic situations, continuous manufacturing will play a critical role in scaling industrial production much more rapidly, much as we saw with the need to rapidly expand vaccine production. NF: Hovione positioned itself as a global pioneer in this technology, largely through a strategic partnership with Vertex that you mentioned earlier. This happened in 2016. How did a Portuguese company become the first of its kind to adopt such an important industrial-scale advancement in the United States? JV: Since its founding, Hovione’s history has been closely linked to the adoption and application of new pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies capable of delivering significant industrial and economic advantages. That has been one of the company’s keys to success. During the 2010s, Hovione recognized the potential and benefits of continuous tablet manufacturing early on. As you mentioned, in 2016, Hovione entered into a strategic partnership with Vertex to establish industrial-scale continuous tablet manufacturing capabilities in the United States. Hovione was likely the first company of its kind to adopt this technology. This was important not only for industry-wide adoption but also because, in partnership with Vertex, it played a key role in developing a new, more effective treatment for cystic fibrosis—a devastating, currently incurable disease that primarily affects children. NF: Earlier, you mentioned that this represented a significant industrial challenge. I imagine it required designing and installing far more sophisticated equipment to make it all work. JV: That's correct, Nelson. The challenges were enormous during the first industrial-scale implementation of continuous tablet manufacturing. Hovione’s team led the project from the initial facility and equipment design stages all the way through construction of the building, installation of the new equipment, and operational execution of the manufacturing process for this new Vertex medicine, which has played an important role in treating a serious and incurable disease. NF: After that first facility in the United States, this technology was also brought to Portugal, to Loures, where Hovione has operated a second production line for several years. Does this, in a way, complete the cycle for Hovione, allowing the company to work from molecule to finished tablet? JV: Exactly. Following the success of the first industrial installation and the experience gained, and driven by growing market demand and interest in the technology, Hovione expanded its manufacturing capacity in the early 2020s by building and commissioning a second continuous tablet manufacturing facility at its Loures site in Portugal. As you noted, the Loures facility is capable of performing the entire development cycle—from chemical production of the innovative molecule through formulation and manufacture of the final tablet. NF: João, we’re speaking at a time when global soccer competitions often inspire national pride. I imagine there’s also a sense of pride when patients anywhere in the world take an innovative medicine knowing that the engineering and technology behind it involved Portuguese teams. JV: Absolutely, Nelson. By combining our ability in Portugal to identify and adopt innovative technologies with investments in advanced manufacturing capabilities, we can position ourselves as trusted partners to our customers across our industries. That has certainly been the case with Hovione. As you mentioned, we have helped produce innovative medicines that improve the quality of life of millions of people around the world. That should be a source of pride for all of us here in Portugal, just as our national soccer team is. NF: João, thank you very much for explaining how this technology is challenging traditional manufacturing and accelerating the production of life-saving medicines. João Ventura is Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Product Development at Hovione. That concludes the fourth episode of The Next Discovery. In the coming weeks, we’ll explore a new topic: how the respiratory and nasal systems can be used to deliver medicines more effectively to the lungs and, in some cases, even serve as a direct highway to the brain. Don’t miss the upcoming episodes at observador.pt and on your favorite podcast platforms. Until the next discovery.

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Observador Lab, 9 July 2026

Podcast “The Next Discovery” (EP4) - Continuous Tablets, Lives in Motion

Jul 09, 2026

The podcast "The Next Discovery" is a six-episode series created by Observador, a leading Portuguese digital newspaper and radio station, in partnership with Hovione. From particle engineering to global leadership in spray drying, discover the technology that enables oral medicines to be effectively absorbed by the body and help treat millions of people. What if some of the scientific breakthroughs that could improve the lives of millions of people were happening right now in Portugal? Welcome to "The Next Discovery. Listen to the third episode of the podcast here, featuring Filipe Gaspar, VP Technology Intensification, and José Luís Santos, Strategic Business Management Senior Director, at Hovione. [English transcription] Nelson Ferreira (NF): Welcome to The Next Discovery. This is a partnership between Rádio Observador and Hovione, a six-episode series in which we show how science developed in Portugal has a real impact around the world. I’m Nelson Ferreira, and in the last episode we explored how APIs—the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicines—are produced. Today, we move to the next stage: how do we transform that chemical powder into a medicine that our bodies can actually absorb? To help explain this science, I’m joined by Filipe Gaspar and José Luís Santos, who were involved in the creation and development of Hovione’s particle engineering division. Welcome to you both. Filipe, let me start with you. NF: When we hear about a new medicine, we usually think about the molecule that was discovered. But why isn’t that discovery alone enough? What exactly is particle engineering, and what role does it play in turning a promising molecule into a medicine that is truly effective? Filipe Gaspar (FG): Nelson, the active ingredients in many modern medicines are not effective in the form in which they are produced through chemical or biological processes. To work properly in the body, they need to undergo additional transformations. For example, some medicines must be protected from the acidity of the stomach so they can later be released in the intestine, where the environment is less acidic and absorption into the bloodstream can occur. Others require very specific particle sizes. This is the case with inhalation powders, often used to treat asthma or chronic bronchitis. If the particles are too large, they become trapped in the upper airways and never reach the alveoli, where they need to be absorbed. On the other hand, if they are too small, they may simply be exhaled before absorption occurs. Finding the right particle size is therefore essential to ensuring an effective treatment. Another remarkable example is modern oral medicines, which often need to be converted into a different form—the amorphous form—so that the body can absorb them properly. Particle engineering makes all of this possible, overcoming many of these limitations by improving drug absorption, distribution, and therapeutic effectiveness. NF: I believe that in 2003 Hovione made a bold decision and invested in spray drying technology. José, for our listeners, could you explain in simple terms what this technology is, what problem it solves, and why it was so revolutionary at the time? José Luís Santos (JLS): First, it’s worth noting that spray drying has been used for decades in other industries. Think, for example, about powdered milk, instant coffee, or the powdered detergent we use in our washing machines. In all these cases, we start with a liquid—milk, coffee, or a soap-based paste—and transform it into a very fine powder that dissolves almost instantly when mixed with water. This transformation is achieved through spray drying. To explain it simply, imagine a very large chamber, something like a giant hair dryer. Inside, the liquid we want to dry is converted into a spray—a kind of mist—creating extremely small droplets. These microscopic droplets are then dried very rapidly using hot gas inside that giant dryer. In just milliseconds, the liquid evaporates, leaving behind a powder made of tiny particles with properties that, as Filipe mentioned, make them highly soluble. The powders we produce in the pharmaceutical industry are physically similar to powdered milk, instant coffee, or powdered detergent. Now, why was this technology revolutionary for pharmaceuticals? Just as spray drying made it possible to preserve milk for months without refrigeration or gave us coffee that can be prepared in seconds, pharmaceutical spray drying made it possible to create medicines with improved therapeutic effectiveness because they became more soluble. Without access to spray drying technology, many of these medicines would simply not have had a viable path to reach the market and ultimately patients. NF: Filipe, we now have a better understanding of what happens in the factory, but I’m curious about what happens inside a patient’s body. Can you give us some concrete examples? What happens when a molecule looks promising in the laboratory, but the body cannot absorb it effectively? FG: Of course. As surprising as it may sound, most medicines taken orally—tablets and capsules—are actually less soluble in water than glass or marble. Since our gastric and intestinal fluids consist primarily of water, these medicines, in their original crystalline form, dissolve very poorly and can pass through the digestive system without being absorbed into the bloodstream. That would make them completely ineffective. Spray drying solves this problem by transforming them into an amorphous form that dissolves much more easily and can be absorbed by the body. A simple analogy would be to compare an ice cube with snow. Both are solid water, but snow melts much faster because of its structure. Spray drying applies a similar principle to medicines, significantly enhancing their ability to dissolve and be absorbed. NF: José Luís, some of this may sound very technical to our listeners, but the outcome is ultimately that people live longer and healthier lives because of these technologies. Are there concrete examples of medicines that only reached the market and patients because of this technology? JLS: Absolutely. One of the most significant examples involving Hovione was the COVID-19 treatment effort. Hovione participated in the production of Captisol, a compound that was essential in the manufacture of Remdesivir, Gilead’s antiviral medicine, which became one of the few treatments authorized for COVID-19. Another important example is the treatment of hepatitis C. Around 10 to 12 years ago, the disease was virtually eradicated in many parts of the world thanks to new medicines whose manufacturing processes relied on spray drying technology. This enabled those therapies to achieve the solubility and therapeutic effect required. These are just two examples. At Hovione—and across the industry—we are working with a growing number of medicines, including treatments for oncology, cystic fibrosis, and many other diseases that benefit from spray drying technology and the advantages it offers. NF: From what I understand, this technology will continue to play an important role in future discoveries as well. Filipe, when Hovione invested in spray drying, it was a technology that was almost inaccessible and rarely used in the pharmaceutical industry. What did Hovione see that others didn’t? And how did what seemed like a risky bet eventually position the company as a global leader in this field? FG: When we invested in the technology in 2003, we had already identified one or two opportunities. As you said, it was a technology that was practically nonexistent among companies like Hovione that provide services to the pharmaceutical industry. We decided to invest before there was established market demand, which meant taking a significant risk. We were talking about many millions of euros—the cost of an industrial-scale spray dryer. Afterward, we actively developed the market. The demand we saw, particularly the need to improve the bioavailability of oral medicines, confirmed our highest expectations. We have made—and continue to make—ongoing investments in science, technology, and industrial capacity. Over the years, these investments have consolidated Hovione’s position as a global reference in spray drying. Now, we must continue innovating to maintain that position. NF: Based on the examples we’ve been hearing, that doesn’t seem likely to be a problem for Hovione. We also know that innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. Spray drying appears to be another example of that. Hovione seems to have strong ties with academia and universities through master’s and doctoral programs conducted in industrial settings. Is this collaboration the secret to staying at the forefront? JLS: Yes. Our connection with academia has always been very important and continues to be so. Today, we have more than 300 people working in research and development roles, and we maintain strong ties with the academic community. Hovione is one of the largest private employers of PhDs in Portugal, with approximately 120 PhDs on staff, and we actively promote projects in partnership with universities and research centers. FG: I would also like to mention the Hovione Research Program. NF: What is that? FG: It is Hovione’s research program. It is a collaborative initiative with Portuguese academic institutions and has been active for more than 15 years. To give you an idea, at any given time we typically have around 10 PhD candidates and between 20 and 30 master’s students conducting their work in an industrial environment simultaneously. Most of these researchers end up joining Hovione after completing their studies, integrating into the same areas in which they carried out their research. They are a reflection of this collaboration with academia, which has been a key driver not only of our ability to innovate but also of our capacity to attract and retain highly qualified talent. NF: Filipe Gaspar and José Luís Santos, thank you both for showing us that behind every medicine there is an enormous amount of science, innovation, and talent. And often it is invisible technologies—such as the spray drying technology we discussed in greater detail today—that make a difference in the lives of millions of people. This concludes the third episode of The Next Discovery. Next week, we take the next step and discover how Hovione challenged industry tradition by introducing continuous tablet manufacturing. You can listen to the next episodes on observador.pt and on your usual podcast platform. See you at the next discovery.    

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Observador Lab, 2 julho 2026

Podcast “The Next Discovery” (EP3) - Particles that change lives

Jul 02, 2026

The podcast "The Next Discovery" is a six-episode series created by Observador, a leading Portuguese digital newspaper and radio station, in partnership with Hovione. From hard-to-produce antibiotics to innovative therapies, Hovione uses complex and sustainable chemistry to bring safe medicines to patients around the world. What if some of the scientific discoveries that could improve the lives of millions of people were happening right now in Portugal? “The Next Discovery.” Listen to the second episode of the podcast here, featuring Rui Loureiro, scientist at Hovione. [English transcription] From hard-to-produce antibiotics to innovative therapies, Hovione uses complex and sustainable chemistry to bring safe medicines to patients around the world. What if some of the scientific discoveries that could improve the lives of millions of people were happening right now in Portugal? “The Next Discovery.” Nelson Ferreira (NF): Welcome to the podcast “The Next Discovery.” This is a partnership between Rádio Observador and Hovione—a six-episode series where we open the doors of a Portuguese-founded multinational pharmaceutical company to share real stories of science, innovation, and global impact. I am Nelson Ferreira, and in the first episode we explored the story of the basement where it all began more than 65 years ago. Today, we will understand what happens inside this company. We will talk about complex chemistry, because that is where the journey of many medicines that pass through Hovione begins. We will discover how laboratory science becomes industrial processes, how sustainability is part of this transformation, and how all of this contributes to producing medicines that truly help improve and save lives. To guide us on this journey, I am joined today by Rui Loureiro, a scientist at Hovione’s Research and Development Center. Hello, Rui. Welcome to Rádio Observador. NF: Rui, most people may never have heard of Hovione, but they may be taking a medicine where Hovione played an important role. Where exactly do you fit into this long journey that takes a medicine to the patient? Rui Loureiro (RL): Hello, Nelson, good morning—and thank you for the question. The path for a medicine to reach a patient is long. It starts with producing a very small amount of a drug, which through development eventually needs to be produced in kilograms. Let me give an example. Imagine baking cookies. When you buy cookies at the supermarket, someone first made the initial batch at home—but then they needed a partner to scale those cookies to an industrial level. NF: A factory, exactly. RL: Exactly. That is where Hovione comes in. We are that partner for the pharmaceutical industry—helping turn one cookie into many cookies that eventually reach patients. NF: For those listening who are not familiar with this field, people often talk about APIs in the pharmaceutical industry. I had to look it up myself. What is it, and why has Hovione focused so much on it since early on? RL: API can mean different things depending on the field—for example, in IT it means something entirely different. In the pharmaceutical industry, API stands for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient. In Portuguese, princípio ativo—the component that treats or cures the disease. Using the cookie analogy again: a chocolate cookie has many ingredients—but the chocolate is what defines it. The API is exactly that in a medicine: a small but essential part that delivers the therapeutic effect. Even though tablets contain multiple substances, producing something like a 10 mg tablet of the active ingredient alone is difficult—so other components are added to create the final form. NF: Over many years, Hovione also specialized in complex generics. How did that experience help you move into working with companies developing entirely new medicines? RL: That was a very important step. Developing complex generics means the chemistry required is challenging—it may involve very low temperatures or tightly controlled conditions to ensure we produce the desired result and not something unwanted. Those early capabilities—developing antibiotics and other materials—led the market to recognize Hovione’s expertise. Ultimately, chemistry involves combining building blocks. If someone proves they can assemble the most complex ones, the industry will take notice. That is how we became recognized as a trusted partner for complex pharmaceuticals. NF: I am curious about this idea of “complex chemistry.” You often compare chemistry to cooking—what distinguishes traditional chemistry from the complex chemistry you do at Hovione? RL: Let me simplify for clarity. Complex chemistry depends on the reagents and solvents used. The starting materials may be difficult to transform and may require very specific conditions. The resulting product may also be unstable and require careful handling. Using cooking as an analogy: simple chemistry is like making jelly—you mix powder with hot water and let it set. Complex chemistry is more like making ice cream—it involves a more intricate process, and many people prefer to leave it to specialists. NF: Another fascinating challenge: in the lab, you work at milligram or gram scale, but factories must produce tons. How do you scale from a teaspoon to a truckload without ruining the recipe? RL: That is indeed our biggest daily challenge. Scaling up requires understanding every variable in the process. Going from a small kitchen setup to industrial production is not just about bigger equipment—it requires entirely different systems and expertise. We work with multidisciplinary teams—chemists, engineers, analytical specialists—to control every variable that affects product quality. In a typical GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) process, there are 4–5 main steps. And across those steps, we may need to control around 350 variables to ensure the final product meets quality standards for patients. NF: When people think of chemistry, they often think of something negative. But Hovione has been developing more sustainable approaches. What does sustainable chemistry mean in practice? RL: Sustainability is a daily priority. We design processes with sustainability in mind from the very beginning. We follow green chemistry principles—avoiding harmful reagents whenever possible. And when that is not possible, we apply the “four Rs”: reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover. For example, just as the paint industry moved from solvent-based to water-based systems, we are also moving toward chemistry in water. This reduces the carbon footprint of our processes. We are also exploring micellar chemistry, flow chemistry, and even reactions without solvents at all—similar to grinding ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. These approaches help reduce waste and improve efficiency. NF: Looking to the future—will chemistry remain our best tool to save lives, and in a more sustainable way? RL: Absolutely. That is what motivates me every day. Artificial intelligence is already helping identify targets and design molecules—but those molecules still need to be produced. That is where chemistry remains essential. It is the foundation for creating and improving medicines. Innovation and sustainability will go hand in hand—and that is the path we are committed to. NF: Rui Loureiro, thank you for helping simplify chemistry and for showing this more sustainable side of science. This was the second episode of “The Next Discovery.” In the coming weeks, we will continue exploring this world. In the next episode, we will look at the future of particle engineering.   You can listen to the next episodes on observador.pt and on your usual podcast platform. See you at the next discovery.      

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Observador Lab, 25 june 2026

Podcast “The Next Discovery” (EP2) - Complex chemistry, real impact

Jun 25, 2026

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