Loures, Portugal, 23rd October, 2009 - Hovione announced today that it has acquired an aseptic spray-drying production line, vial filling and back up utilities from Acusphere, a company located in Boston.

The equipment includes sterile filtration, aseptic spray drying, secondary drying and vial filling, as well as terminal sterilization systems, lyophilisation, WFI and clean steam production utilities. This acquisition is a great business opportunity, as it now provides Hovione access to equipment and knowhow for the production of sterile drug substance and sterile drug product.

“This is a very exciting move for Hovione, we are adding aseptic production -a tough new area of pharmaceutical manufacturing- to our offering. We have been considering aseptic production for some time and today we took the first step.” said Dave Hoffman, Head of Hovione’s Exclusives and Particle Design Business Units.

This acquisition adds to Hovione’s already impressive cGMP spray-drying facilities, which includes lab, pilot and various commercial scale production installations in Portugal, US and in Ireland. The range and versatility of the production equipment means Hovione can spray dry milligrams as well as deliver 400 tons/year from its Irish facility, spray drying HPAI’s (Highly Potent Active Ingredients) and now sterile compounds. Hovione’s in-house mathematical models, in combination with PAT and a QbD mindset, Hovione can solve the most complex solubility challenges.

About Hovione. Hovione is an international company dedicated to the cGMP development and manufacture of APIs and Intermediate Drug Products via particle design, serving exclusively the pharmaceutical industry. With four FDA inspected sites in the US, China, Ireland and Portugal, the company focuses on the most demanding projects, in the most regulated markets. The company also offers integrated API, particle design and formulation development and manufacturing. In the inhalation area, Hovione is the only independent company offering such a broad range of services.

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: hello@hovione.com)