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Article / May 20, 2019

In the drug services industry, growth has no end in sight

C&EN, 20 May 2019

Transformative investments, and capacity expansions abound at CPhI North America

Pharmaceutical services firms attending the CPhI North America trade show in Chicago earlier this month were virtually unanimous in reporting another year of strong growth in a business that has seen no direction other than up for nearly a decade. Investment continues apace, as do acquisitions, with many firms claiming their manufacturing assets are at or near full capacity.

Tied as it is to the drug industry, the sector has long defied traditional economic cycles. Contract manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have also added services, developed expertise in complex chemistry, and generally taken risks to grow businesses in the direction required by customers developing the drugs of the future.

Results this year indicate that many of these risks have paid off. And ongoing investments hint at another round of risk taking on new technologies and service models.

"Business is buoyant, the strongest it's been on record," said Denis Geffroy, vice president of business development for the Northern Irish firm Almac Sciences. "We are approaching 20% growth this year, which is really surprising because we've been growing 15-20% for the last 10 years."

Several factors explain yet another year of strong results, Geffroy said. "First, I like to think we are doing a good job. But the market has improved, especially in the US," he said, citing a steady flow of venture funding for biotech start-ups. Meanwhile, customers continue to bring their outsourcing back to Europe from China, a shift that accelerated with a Chinese crackdown on environmental regulations starting in 2017.

Almac Sciences is experiencing strong growth and is operating near full capacity. The firm plans a major expansion.

Almac has also benefited from a commitment it made to biocatalytic services beginning in 2010. "We are staying ahead of the game, using enzymes not only for chiral molecules," Geffroy said. "About 20% of the compounds we make have got an enzyme somewhere, either in a final step or in an intermediate step." The 2015 acquisition of the Irish firm Arran Chemical was key to developing the service, he added.

At the time, he told C&EN that Almac was "hitting the wall" on biocatalysis capacity. The company is hitting the wall again, according to Geffroy, this time in its core API business. "We are growing so quickly, we are at full capacity at the moment, which is a bit frustrating," he said. "We need more capacity, and we now have the approval from the board to start building an API plant next door to our current plant." The $20 million facility is expected to open in 2021, yielding a fivefold jump in the firm's capacity to make highly potent APIs.

The Portuguese firm Hovione is also expanding. "We acquired a new piece of land in Portugal, a greenfield site, 10 times larger than the site we have," Marco Gil, senior director of commercial services, told C&EN. At the 40-hectare site, a half-hour drive from Hovione's headquarters plant in Loures, outside Lisbon, the firm will add API capacity while expanding in new areas such as flow chemistry and finished-drug production.

The company is already expanding in Loures, where it recently established a continuous tableting line. Spreading out at the new site will give Hovione a chance to broaden its services and establish a full line from early-stage development to commercialization, all in the Lisbon area, according to Gil.

In France, Minakem is building a lab for cytotoxics used in antibody-drug conjugates at its site in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, where it is also installing a high-performance liquid chromatography column, according to Jean-Marie Rosset, vice president of sales and marketing. And the company, last year, completed and $11 million API-capacity expansion in Dunkirk, France.

"We are facing capacity constraint," Rosset said, noting that Minakem is also pursuing an acquisition. "We have been looking for 18 months." The company may acquire R&D or pilot manufacturing assets in the US, he said.

Rosset said that prospects look good for the year ahead. "We have a lot of stuff in the works that will require scale-up," he said. "The problem is where to put these products. But that's a good problem to have-better than empty capacity."

Helsinn finds itself in similar straits, according to Sandra Moro, business development director. The company is in the midst of a $20 million project at its Biasca, Switzerland, headquarters to install large-scale cytotoxic manufacturing capability.

 

Marco Gil CPhI North America 2019 | Hovione

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We believe in the one-site shop with chemistry, particle engineering, and final product.

Marco Gil, senior director of commercial services, Hovione



The project will free up smaller-scale capacity, Moro said, allowing Helsinn to take on more of customers' early-stage work, such as oncology projects that have been fast-tracked by regulators. "We can go from Phase I to Phase III," she said, referring to stages of drug development, "but we currently have very few early-phase compounds-56% of our compounds are commercial."

Tight capacity has not stifled growth, however. Helsinn's revenues increased about 20% for the second year in a row last year, Moro said.

It's not only European firms that are investing. India's Hikal also has achieved 20% annual growth in recent years, according to Anish Swadi, head of business development and strategy.

The company is also in need of capacity. "We are investing $55 million into assets and infrastructure," Swadi said; this investment will support the company's pharmaceutical chemical and crop protection divisions, which share core chemistries. The new capacity will expand continuous manufacturing and biocatalysis capabilities, he added.

Some of the firms that disclosed expansions at CPhI did so on top of large acquisitions. Executives from such firms discussed integrating internal and external investments to create full-service offerings for their drug-industry customers.

Catalent recently announced a $1.2 billion acquisition of the gene-therapy specialist Paragon Bioservices, setting itself up in an increasingly competitive new field in drug development.

Separately, the company is investing more than $200 million to expand its monoclonal antibody (mAb) and other large-molecule production capabilities in Madison, Wisconsin, and Bloomington, Indiana. It's adding fill-and-finish and associated analytical and packaging capabilities as well, to "take your mAb from preclinical all the way to commercial," said Elliott Berger, vice president of global marketing and strategy.

Although Catalent doesn't manufacture pharmaceutical chemicals, it is looking to bolster its presence in small molecules, where bioavailability-enhancing techniques are of increasing importance. Acquisitions over the past 5 years-including Micron Technologies in 2014, Pharmatek Laboratories in 2016, and Juniper Pharmaceuticals in 2018-have brought in spray drying, formulation, and other services downstream of API production. At the Chicago event, Catalent announced a $40 million expansion of oral-dose capabilities and the addition of spray drying in Winchester, Kentucky.

And the company is also ready to invest heavily in its newest business, Berger said, noting that Paragon is building two commercial production facilities in Baltimore and expanding its relationship with Sarepta Therapeutics, a key customer for its adeno-associated virus vectors. "We have financing secured for larger than the acquisition to fund that," he said.

At CPhI, Lonza announced what it calls a "first in human" service: a combination of API and finished-drug development, formulation, and manufacturing targeted at the 70% of compounds in development that have solubility challenges.

According to David K. Lyon, a senior research fellow with Lonza, the service draws on both internal assets and those acquired in recent years, such as Micro-Macinazione, a Swiss micronization specialist that Lonza bought in 2017. Other assets are as far afield as Bend, Oregon, where Lonza does solubility work; Guangzhou, China, where it manufactures APIs; and Edinburgh, Scotland, where Lonza operates a liquid-drug formulation facility.

Lonza is cuing up these assets to crack the bioavailability case at Phase I and expedite commercialization, especially of fast-tracked projects, Lyon said. It aims to reduce development time from 52 weeks to 32 weeks for customers seeking to file an investigational new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration.

The small-molecule specialist Cambrex is also putting recent acquisitions together. The company brought in early-stage API development when it bought PharmaCore in 2016 and added early-stage API capabilities and sites in the US and Scotland when it acquired Avista Pharma Solutions last year. It also bought Halo Pharma, a finished-drug producer, for $425 million last year. Cambrex is now better positioned to address the changing needs of innovative drug companies, according to Matthew Moorcroft, vice president of marketing.

Meanwhile, Cambrex continues to invest in large-scale API production. It completed an expansion of its high-potency API plant in Charles City, Iowa, last year. The company is now ramping up continuous manufacturing capabilities at its Highpoint, North Carolina, facility-the former PharmaCore-and its factory in Karlskoga, Sweden.

"To make a long story short, we are excited about what we've done over the last 6 months," Moorcroft said. "Now it's all about delivering."

 

 

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In an interview with Executiva, a portuguese media outlet focused on women´s leadership, Diane Villax, co-founder and long-standing leader of Hovione, reflects on her journey and the company’s development over more than six decades. Diane Villax’s career began at a time when few women worked outside the home. At 19, she joined a trading company as a foreign languages correspondent, where she developed essential business skills — including commercial correspondence, banking and export procedures — that later proved instrumental in helping her husband, Ivan Villax, establish Hovione in 1959. From its earliest days operating in the family home in Lisbon, Hovione adopted an international outlook. The company’s first major customers were in Japan, setting demanding quality standards that helped shape its long-term position in global markets. Over the following decades, Hovione expanded its footprint with the construction of its first manufacturing site in Loures (1969), followed by expansion to Macau (1986), the United States (New Jersey, early 2000s) and Ireland (Cork). The company grew into a global organization with more than 2,500 employees — including over 300 scientists — and a reputation as a preferred supplier to leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Throughout the interview, Diane highlights the values that have guided the company’s development: a commitment to excellence, a strong work ethic, and a focus on quality and long-term relationships. Although she did not have formal business training, she learned “on the job” and brought discipline, precision and structure to her role — particularly in the company’s early financial and administrative leadership. Now in her nineties and an active member of Hovione’s Board of Directors, Diane Villax remains engaged with the company’s evolution and governance, reflecting a continued commitment to its long-term development. Her story reflects entrepreneurial drive, resilience and long-term leadership — and offers insight into the values that have shaped Hovione’s trajectory for more than six decades. Read the full interview at Executiva.pt (in portuguese).    

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Executiva, 23 February 2026

Hovione’s Diane Villax: “I was not brought up to be a business woman”

Feb 23, 2026

Márcio Temtem, vice president, Strategic Business Management, Hovione, addresses molecule complexity, speed, and regionalization via integrated manufacturing. The landscape of small molecule manufacturing is rapidly evolving, according to Márcio Temtem, vice president, Strategic Business Development, Hovione, who provides an expert look into how his firm is evolving their approach as the industry changes. With 17 years of experience at Hovione, a family-owned CDMO with a 66-year legacy, Temtem identifies three pivotal trends currently shaping the industry: increased complexity, accelerated development speed, and the regionalization of supply chains. Temtem observes that small molecules have grown significantly in size and complexity, often requiring multiple chemical steps and high-potency handling. This shift necessitates a specialized "toolbox" to overcome modern bioavailability challenges. Highlighting Hovione's technical approach to these hurdles, Temtem states, "We use a platform called amorphous solid dispersions, produced by spray drying to address this challenge of bioavailability.” This platform represents a core area in which Hovione maintains global leadership, utilizing innovative tools to scale processes efficiently while minimizing the use of APIs. Temtem also mentions the increased influence of AI in drug discovery and deployment, which requires CDMOs to bridge the gap from grams to tons at a much faster pace than in previous years. He further addresses the trend of regionalization, noting the rise of countries such as the US and China prioritizing regional supply chain strategies. He explains that Hovione is uniquely positioned to navigate these new challenges with supply chains through its FDA-inspected sites across three continents. Central to Hovione’s competitive advantage is their integrated manufacturing offer, which combines drug substance and drug product expertise at a single location. Temtem emphasizes the value of this model, stating, “The company… has been investing in an integrated offer, bridging the problems of chemists and formulators all at the same shop.” To support this integration, the company continues to pioneer advanced manufacturing avenues, including continuous flow for drug substances and continuous tableting for drug products. Watch the full video interview or read the transcript at PharmTech.com  

Article
PharmTech, 6 February 2026

Hovione’s Strategy for Complexity, Speed, and Regional Supply Chains

Feb 06, 2026

Hovione’s historic site in Loures has been expanded to meet demand and is now operating at full capacity. This Lisbon-based flagship company has developed innovative production techniques to serve laboratories around the world On the outskirts of Loures, in the periphery of Lisbon, a maze of multicolored pipes covers the walls of the Hovione factory. This industrial site, where signs warn of an “explosive atmosphere,” houses the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients — the core business of this company with Portuguese origins generating annual revenues of more than half a billion euros. “The products that leave here are shipped to every continent,” explains Diane Villax, the family matriarch. At 91, her voice moves effortlessly between English, French, and Portuguese — a cosmopolitan streak inseparable from the history of Hovione and the Villax family, its founders. The epic began with an exile: that of Ivan Villax in 1948. With a toothbrush in one pocket and his chemistry degree in the other, the 23-year-old anti-communist fled his native Hungary with relatives hunted by the Soviet regime. After a stop in Clermont-Ferrand, he dropped anchor in Lisbon, where he met Diane, from a family of sugar industrialists. One year after their marriage, they co-founded Hovione in 1959 with two other Hungarian refugees. The early days were artisanal: the company’s laboratory was located in the basement of the family home. “One of my earliest childhood memories is of adults in white lab coats. I knew how to use a fire extinguisher at six!” smiles Peter Villax, son of Ivan and Diane, who worked for Hovione for more than thirty years. Very early on, the duo expanded internationally, notably into Japan. The 1980s were prosperous years: growth surged at 20% annually. Then transformation accelerated with the arrival of new technologies in the early 1990s. Today, “the time required to move from test tube to industrial scale has been reduced to a few weeks, compared with six months in the past,” notes Peter Villax. The American adventure Sixty-seven years after its creation, the company — now headquartered in Switzerland — employs 2,400 people. Through medicines incorporating its active ingredients, Hovione claims to treats around an estimated 80 million patients worldwide each year. The Loures site has been expanded, and production has spread to Ireland, the United States, and Macao. The cellar at 1 Travessa do Ferreiro, where the story began, is now a distant memory. Little known to the general public, Hovione is nevertheless a key link in the pharmaceutical value chain: it develops and manufactures molecules for 19 of the world’s 20 largest laboratories. Its expansion has been fueled by favorable market conditions. “Pharmaceutical manufacturers increasingly rely on outsourcing for the production of active ingredients,” notes Loïc Plantevin, a pharma specialist at Bain & Company. “Historically, major groups chose to allocate more capital to research than to manufacturing, while biotech companies — which now drive most of the market’s growth — are not designed to build factories.” Far from resting on its achievements, the company has transformed its offering. “While the founders initially focused on generic active ingredients, Hovione has evolved toward more complex molecules and formulations, produced within exclusive partnerships with its clients,” explains Jean-Luc Herbeaux, a French national and the company’s CEO since 2022. This shift reflects a deeper trend. “For several years now, active ingredients have become a more differentiated market and less sensitive to price,” adds Loïc Plantevin. “Competitiveness is now linked to know-how and advanced production technologies, which require substantial investment.” Hovione is the world champion of spray drying, a technology enabling the production of soluble powders. With the expansion of its New Jersey site, the company aims to double its U.S. capacity — a country that accounts for 60% of its sales. Despite Donald Trump’s attacks on the pharmaceutical sector, which he claims to have brought to heel by forcing price cuts, Hovione remains confident. “We are in the U.S. to grow, and that ambition goes beyond the momentum created by the American administration,” assures Jean-Luc Herbeaux. “Our customers there are asking us to help them produce in the United States over the long term.” Commitment to cutting-edge research and the search for talent are deeply rooted in the company’s DNA. “In his later years, my father collaborated with Nobel Prize–winning chemist Geoffrey Wilkinson. Together, they would go to the Hovione lab to run experiments — just ‘for fun,’ as they put it,” recalls Peter Villax. The group is the largest employer of PhD students in Portugal and has forged partnerships with several national universities. “In some ways, Hovione resembles a university,” he continues. “Despite the sensitive nature of our technologies, we publish many academic research papers.” In search of lost sovereignty To preserve cohesion, the Villax family adheres to strict governance. “Unlike many Portuguese family businesses, most members of the third generation do not work in the company,” notes Duarte Pitta Ferraz of consulting firm Ivens in Porto. “Several independent directors sit on the board. The family’s role is to define values and long-term vision, not to manage day-to-day operations.” This responsibility is fully embraced by Jean-Luc Herbeaux. Since joining the group in 2020 as chief operating officer, sales have doubled. “My priority was to refocus the group,” says the engineer, who previously worked for German chemical giant Evonik. “We developed spray drying, invested in a new tablet-manufacturing process, and increased production speed through a new model that allows our clients to access all our services at a single industrial site.” A member of the European Fine Chemicals Group (EFCG), Hovione is actively defending European pharmaceutical manufacturing — a sector under strain. According to a study by the French Union of Organic Chemical Synthesis Industries (Sicos), Europe’s share of global active ingredient production has fallen from 48% to 30% in ten years, to the benefit of India and China. The reasons include production cost gaps — raw materials, energy — as well as the burden of European administrative and regulatory procedures, explains Maggie Saykali, director at the EFCG. “If we start a price war with our Asian competitors, we will not win it,” she admits. “It is better to compete on quality, innovation, and sovereignty over our value chain.” It took the Covid-19 pandemic and severe shortages for Europe to awaken. Last March, the European Commission proposed legislation on critical medicines. But the race against time has already begun. “China is increasingly using pharmaceutical ingredients as a tool of geopolitical pressure,” warns Maggie Saykali. “It is urgent to preserve European players like Hovione, focused on process innovation — which allows medicines to be produced with higher quality and greater environmental responsibility.” With a new site under construction in Seixal, on the southern bank of the Tagus River, the Lisbon star has not finished shining in the orbit of the global pharmaceutical industry.   (This is a translation from the original article)   Read the original article on lexpress.fr  

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