Press Room

February is the B Corp Month. Throughout this month we are raising awareness in a globally coordinated social media effort to celebrate B Corps!   Being a B Corporation means that to ensure our long‑term viability we will contribute positively to economic, environmental and social sustainability.  As a Certified B CorporationTM we want to contribute to redefine success in business, meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, setting our Team Members for success and personal satisfaction, and aspiring to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems. Collectively, B Corps lead a growing global movement of people using business as a force for goodTM.   Learn more about Hovione being a B Corporation.    

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We are proud to be a B Corporation.

February, the B Corp Month

Feb 04, 2019

On January 22nd Mrs. Diane Villax, Founder Chairman, received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary. The decoration was handed to Mrs. Villax by the Hungarian Ambassador to Portugal, Madame Klára Breuer, conferred on her by the President of the Republic of Hungary in recognition of the contribution to the development of education of Chemical Engineers through helping students of the Budapest Technical University financially and professionally. The ceremony took place at the Hungarian Embassy in Lisbon and was attended by representatives of the Embassy, the Portuguese Government, Hovione, friends and members of the Villax family. Since 1993, Hovione has received graduate students from the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, alma mater of Dr. Ivan Villax. In 2008, a protocol was signed between the University and Hovione, which pledges to annually receive one to two students in the area of R&D, giving them financial and professional support. It was an intimate ceremony and Mrs. Villax expressed her appreciation of the award saying “this is the story of how the traineeship program came about and which is the basis of the honour I have received today. All I have to say is thank you very much and we intend to continue, our tag line "In it for Life" with many interpretations”.   Learn more about the Ivan Villax Traineeship      

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The decoration was handed to Mrs. Villax by the Hungarian Ambassador to Portugal, Madame Klára Breuer, conferred on her by the President of the Republic of Hungary.

Diane Villax receives the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary

Jan 22, 2019

  In 2019, Hovione celebrates 60 years of history and is launching a new website as the nerve center for communications, updated information by location and archive of memories.    We invite you to visit https://60.hovione.com and also share there your memories and stories about the last ten years.   You are part of our history and we want to celebrate this special date with you. Join us to celebrate 60 Years of In it for life.   Learn more about our History.      

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Hovione launches a new website to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

A New Website to Celebrate 60 Years of History

Dec 28, 2018

Hovione is awarded with the 2018 Bartolomeu de Gusmão Award, in the category "Technological Inovation". The ceremony led by the Portuguese Prime Minister awarded 13 Portuguese companies and personalities. This initiative aims to celebrate the innovative capacity of the Portuguese in the technological and commercial fields and raise awareness of the role of Industrial Property in the society and economy of the country.   See the full list of winners (in Portuguese)    

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Bartolomeu de Gusmão award distinguishes innovation and protection of intellectual property

Hovione receives the 2018 Bartolomeu de Gusmão Award

Nov 15, 2018

Hovione Ireland has achieved the Business Working Responsibly Mark for responsible and sustainable business practices. The Mark, developed by Business in the Community Ireland, and audited by the NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland), is based on ISO 26000. The Business Working Responsibly mark is the only independently audited standard for CSR and sustainability. Hovione is among a group of 33 companies who have achieved this award to date.   Irish Examiner writes an article about this mark Employee focus on ethical issues keeps companies on the righteous path   You might be also interested in: B Corp Certification Sustainability        

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The Mark which is run by Business in the Community Ireland is valid for three years

Hovione Ireland achieves the Business Working Responsibly mark for responsible and sustainable business practices

Nov 14, 2018

During October 15th to 17th, Hovione New Jersey hosted the Pharmaceutical Process Analytics Roundtable (PPAR) annual event. PPAR is a meeting/gathering of PAT practioneers in the Pharma industry that happens once a year where several PAT related topics are discussed (e.g.: regulatory aspects, technology novelties, people & organization, etc.). Continuous Manufacturing have become a major topic as it makes intense use of PAT for process control and release of product. Participants for this year event came from Pfizer, Merck, Janssen, BMS, Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Biogen, Amgen, GSK, Sanofi, Vertex, and Genentech. Nuno Matos and Savitha Panikar were the Hovione participants.

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The Pharmaceutical Process Analytics Roundtable (PPAR) Annual Event at Hovione New Jersey

Hovione New Jersey hosts 2018 PPAR Conference

Oct 23, 2018

On September 26th, 2018, Hovione New Jersey held the Opening Ceremony of the site expansion. This expansion is the result of an investment over €30 million in its R&D Center. The Mayor of East Windsor, New Jersey, Janice S. Mironov, the Hovione CEO, Guy Villax and the AICEP Commissioner in the USA, Manuel Couto Miranda were present. The new R&D center represents an expansion of the range of Hovione's service offering in the US market and includes state-of-the-art technologies in the particle engineering and continuous manufacturing areas.   Learn More: Hovione reports on recent capacity expansion and future plans to support growth Hovione New Jersey  

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Hovione invests over €30m in the USA

Hovione New Jersey Site Expansion - Opening Ceremony

Sep 26, 2018

Hovione New Jersey welcomes a Team from OPQ of the FDA as part of the Experiential Learning Site Visit Program for a Training on Continuous Manufacturing. The main objective was to understand the technology and the science behind it, how does industry apply it and which challenges industry faces. The main purpose was to provide the FDA team a better understanding of drug development and manufacturing processes with continuous manufacturing.      

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Hovione New Jersey welcomes a Team from the FDA for a Training on Continuous Manufacturing

FDA OPQ Training at Hovione New Jersey Site

Sep 18, 2018

Hovione has earned a place on the 2018 Best for the World list by scoring in the top 10 percent among all B Corps on the B Impact Assessment. Best for the World lists are segmented by: Best Overall Best for Workers Best for Communities Best for the Environment Best for Customers Best for Governance This year Hovione is on the CUSTOMERS Best For The World list. Described by B Lab as "Improving Customers’ Lives and Opportunities Through Business". What is Best for the World?  Every year, B Lab highlights the Certified B Corporations with B Impact Assessment scores in the top 10% of the entire global community. Separate lists honor companies with the best overall scores as well as scores for each individual category in the BIA.    Find more about Hovione being a B Corp      

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This year Hovione is on the CUSTOMERS Best For The World list.

Hovione is a Best For The World Company!

Jun 18, 2018

Small gestures can truly change the world!   Ivan Villax, who was born on April, the 16th of 1925 in a small town in Hungary, left his country when he was 23 years old with a toothbrush in one pocket and a Chemical Engineering Diploma in the other. Later on, in 1959, already in Portugal, Ivan Villax, together with Diane Villax and two other Hungarians, founded Hovione. On April the 20th of 2018 we celebrated the second Ivan Villax Day across all Hovione sites (Portugal, Ireland, Macau and USA). Team-members across all sites went back to the community and ensured that they had a significant positive impact: Planted trees in Loures Did volunteering work with homeless in Cork Donated rice and oil in Macao Donated personal care items in New Jersey Loures In Loures, about 115 Team Members from the various sites and offices of Hovione participated in an action to replant 500 trees, pines and cork oaks on a municipal site. The planting of these trees will contribute to the reduction of the CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, thus reducing the effects of climate change caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. This initiative was supported and closely monitored by the field technicians of the Division of Green Zones and Forests of the Municipality of Loures. Cork In Cork around 120 Team Members volunteered at two homeless shelters, in which they painted and treated the gardens of the shelters. Furthermore, the result of a Cake Sale was also donated. This year, the focus was to work with a well recognised local and national agency, the Simon Community, to support the homeless people. Macau “Love Food Sharing" was a campaign organized by Hovione Macau with the cooperation of Centro do Serviço de Fornecimento Temporário de Alimentos da Caritas and its aim is to share food and love with the elderly. On this day, 31 Team Members in Macau visited 40 elderly families in need and gave them 80 bottles of cooking oil and rice sacks. New Jersey In New Jersey, over the course of a month, 110 people donated hundreds of personal care items for local community members in need. Additionally, Team Members attended an event where they put all the items together in care packages, which included inspirational words of encouragement and support to those struggling in the local community.

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Team-members across all sites went back to the community and ensured that they had a significant positive impact

2018 Ivan Villax Day

Apr 20, 2018

On the 24th of November, the winners of the 5th Business Awards of Macau were revelead. The winners were picked by a jury panel composed by 30 members of the jury, who selected what they considered to be the 46 best examples of contributions to promote the local entrepreneurial spirit, while advancing and increasing awareness for best industry practices and standards. Hovione was awarded the Innovation Gold Award.

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The winners of the 5th Business Awards of Macau were revealed at a ceremony held at the Grand Lisboa hotel

Hovione is a Winner of the 5th Business Awards of Macau

Nov 24, 2017

Hovione New Jersey welcomed a team of 8 FDA Reviewers for two days training in its facilities. The training was organized under the scope of a training program FDA has in place to provide insight on how does industry apply QbD (Quality by Design), how a facility looks like, which challenges industry faces during development phases up to registration/validation campaigns. The 8 FDA members are reviewers of drug substance section as part of the applications for DMF, NDA and IND. TRAINING TOPICS Introduction to Hovione and New Jersey site Hovione Quality System Hovione methodology for QbD and Risk Assessment Strategy QbD methodology: A Case Study Plant Tour Workshop on Risk Assessment

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Hovione New Jersey welcomes a team of 8 FDA Reviewers for a training on Quality by Design (QbD)

FDA Training at Hovione New Jersey Site

Jul 10, 2017

Diane Villax, Founder Chairman, received the Scientific Merit Medal, from the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal, Manuel Heitor, at the opening session of the National Science and Technology Meeting, Science 2017, in Lisbon, Portugal. The scientific merit medal rewards national or foreign individuals who, due to their outstanding professional qualities and the fulfillment of their duties, have made a valuable and exceptional contribution to the development of science or scientific culture in Portugal. «It is for me a great honour to represent Hovione on this occasion and to see that our original project has continued and grown and is today recognized at the highest levels. I would like to share and dedicate this moment to my family and to all of Hovione’s Team Members, and especially to the memory of my husband Ivan, who 58 years ago was a visionary and believed that it was possible to create in Portugal an innovative, research-based company» said Diane Villax after the ceremony.   Watch Diane Villax interview (in Portuguese):  

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National Science and Technology Meeting, Science 2017, in Lisbon, Portugal

Diane Villax receives Scientific Merit Medal

Jul 03, 2017

Hovione is the first Chemical/Pharmaceutical Company integrating this innovative community of companies that use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. As a Certified B Corporation Hovione wants to contribute to redefine success in business, meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, setting its team members for success and personal satisfaction and aspiring to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems. Hovione believe that B Corps, and especially those that are family businesses, through the power of their collective voice, are competing to be Best for the World® and through them society will enjoy a more shared and durable prosperity. To certify as a B Corp, a set of rigorous social and environmental standards must be met. This is achieved through the B Impact Assessment process that requires four principle areas to be assessed: governance model, workers, environment protection and community involvement, including the impact on its suppliers. Hovione's certification process began almost a year ago. During this period B Lab assessed Hovione's policies and procedures in all locations with its operations around the world (Portugal, Ireland, United States and Asia). They concluded that Hovione follows all the appropriate models and can thus be part of this movement. This is a global movement of people using business as a force for goodTM with a vision that one day all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the Best for the World®.    

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Hovione became a Certified B Corp at the B Corp Summer Summit 2017, in Cascais, Portugal

Hovione receives B Corp Certification

Jun 22, 2017

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