Over the coming months, Hovione will be hiring for positions in quality control, quality analysis, warehouse operations and production operations.

Hovione, a contract pharmaceutical manufacturing and particle engineering company, has announced 48 new jobs for its base in Cork.

The expansion follows a partnership agreement between Hovione and biopharma company Ligand to ramp up production of Captisol, a product that can improve the solubility and stability of drugs. Captisol is used in the Covid-19 treatment Veklury, which is produced by US pharma company Gilead.

New hires will be based at Hovione’s site in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, which has been in operation for more than 10 years. It was acquired from Pfizer in 2009 and currently employs around 200 people.

According to the company’s talent acquisition specialist, Michelle Ahern, the vacancies will span quality control, quality assurance, process engineering, project management, engineering, warehouse operations and production operations. Recruitment for the roles is underway and the team plan to fill them by the end of 2020.

Founded in Portugal in 1959 by Diane and Ivan Villax, Hovione helps to bring new and off-patent drugs to market. The pharma manufacturing company has 1,600 staff members around the world, with facilities in the US, Ireland, China, Portugal, India, Japan, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Jean-Luc Herbeaux, COO of Hovione, said that increased demand for Veklury has meant that Hovione will soon be producing in a month the amount of Captisol it normally produces in a year.

“This sudden spike in demand has required unique mobilisation efforts across the Hovione network to secure additional raw-material supply, execute major capital-expenditure projects at our sites, maximise operational efficiency, hire additional talent and identify external partners to expand our overall capacity,” he said.

Ligand’s president and COO, Matt Foehr, added that Captisol is a “critical component for a number of life-saving medicines”.

Hovione Cork’s general manager, Paul Downing, said that the opportunities are for people “who want to join a fast-paced, dynamic, empowering, diverse, inclusive and exciting organisation”.

To learn more about working at Hovione, visit the company’s careers portal here.

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