Press Room

Press Release / May 27, 2021

Hovione and iBET announce strategic collaboration

A strategic partnership that will take Hovione to new technology frontiers.

Hovione and iBET announce strategic collaboration | Hovione

Loures and Oeiras, May 27, 2021 – Hovione was a founding member of iBET in 1989 and has just re-joined the membership of the Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica.

In order to increase the scope and strength of its research and development programs in the areas of novel and high potential pharmaceutical technologies, Hovione has chosen to build on the existing knowledge and expertise of Portuguese academia. Hovione is known worldwide for the process development, manufacture, and formulation of small molecules. Over the past 6 years, Hovione was the key technical partner behind 24 of the 273 NDAs FDA approved, an 8% share.

The partnership with iBET will take Hovione to new technology frontiers. The Covid-19 pandemic has catalyzed an acceleration of scientific progress, outlining the power of new treatment modalities to fight diseases. The objective is to combine state-of-the-art knowledge from both partners to create strong industrial innovation in new therapeutic fields. The challenge is not trivial and will require more than the combined know-how, skills and capabilities of iBET and Hovione.

“We are delighted with the return of Hovione to the membership of iBET. Our goal is to strengthen the R&D capabilities of our members, this important partnership with Hovione will allow to pull together complementary scientific competencies and power the development of biopharmaceuticals that are essential to patient health. To win in the area of biologics and novel therapies it is critical to have access to state-of-the-art competencies and support technologies” said Paula Alves, CEO, iBET.

“The partnership with IBET opens a new chapter in Hovione's history. We will bring together our knowledge in chemistry, in cutting-edge technologies, of the market and of the FDA regulatory process with iBET’s command of cell biology, viral biology and bioprocessing. If the twentieth century was the century of chemistry, the 21st century is the one of biology. iBET scientists have built deep knowledge in specific areas, we plan to work together to turn that knowledge into industrial innovation” said Guy Villax, CEO of Hovione.

“Hovione was a founding member of iBET and I had the privilege to meet Ivan Villax, a remarkable scientist and entrepreneur open to the world stage where Hovione plays a key role since its foundation. The experience in international collaborations and the complementary competencies that Hovione and iBET have built over the past 25 years in a parallel fashion will now combine in what I expect to be a fruitful collaboration” said Manuel Carrondo, Vice-President, iBET.

 

About Hovione: Founded in 1959, the multinational Hovione has today laboratories and plants in Portugal, Ireland, Macau, and the United States of America. Hovione researches and develops new chemical processes and produces active ingredients for the global pharmaceutical industry. Headquartered in Loures, the company employs 2000 people worldwide. Its research and development activity employs more than 420 technicians and scientists. For more information www.hovione.com

 

About iBET: Founded in 1989 as a Research and Development (R&D) institution dedicated to establishing bridges between academia and industry, the Institute of Experimental and Technological Biology (iBET) is today the largest Portuguese private non-profit institution, dedicated biotechnology research, an area in which he was a pioneer. A global reference in the application of biotechnology and bioengineering to health, iBET invests in the development of vaccines, antibodies, recombinant proteins, stem cells, gene therapy and other innovative therapeutic products. In addition to the health sector, iBET also has a strong position in the areas of Clinical Nutrition, Food Industry and the Agroforestry sector. iBET simultaneously develops more than 70 R&D projects, carried out by approximately 215 researchers, including doctorates, engineers, technicians and scholarship holders. Its competencies are supported by a dynamic and multidisciplinary academic and business network, which, together with its structure geared to obtaining applied results, allows it to transfer the knowledge it creates to companies, helping them to innovate, create value, employment, and economic growth. For more information: www.ibet.pt

For more information, please contact:

 

Also in the Press Room

See All

Key Takeaways Commissioning a US-based ConsiGma CDC Flex line enables end-to-end spray drying-to-tablet manufacture within a single site and quality system, reducing comparability and technology-transfer burdens. Elimination of conventional scale-up is enabled by using the same equipment from early development through commercial supply, minimizing engineering runs and conserving scarce API. Operational flexibility spans batch or continuous modes and 1–200 kg/h throughput, with scale adjustment achieved by switching continuous blenders rather than replatforming processes. High-containment design to 1 µg/m³ expands suitability for highly potent oral solid-dose programs while maintaining integrated development-to-commercial workflows. Regulatory momentum for continuous manufacturing is supported by ICH Q13 harmonization, increasing FDA approvals, and platforms leveraging inline PAT and automated control suites for real-time quality assurance. Hovione announced on Oct. 5, 2026, that it will commission the ConsiGma CDC Flex, a next-generation continuous direct compression tableting platform jointly developed with GEA. The investment is designed to link amorphous solid dispersion manufacturing via spray drying with commercial tablet production at a single US site operating under one quality system. The line will run in either continuous or batch mode at throughputs from 1 to 200 kg/h. Formulation development can begin with as little as 1.5 kg of material, and the same equipment can then support everything from very small clinical batches to large commercial runs, enabled by a design that allows the system to switch between continuous blenders of different sizes. The installation will also be contained to 1 µg/m³ to accommodate highly potent compounds. "Hovione will be the first company in the world to offer the ConsiGma® CDC Flex, bringing this next-generation technology with unprecedented flexibility, simplicity and cost-efficiency in continuous tableting," said Marco Gil and António Almeida, co-CEOs, Hovione, said in a press release. "This investment also advances our strategy of building integrated capabilities close to customers in key markets. By adding this new line at East Windsor, we are broadening access to this technology in the U.S. and giving customers a more direct and accelerated path for developing and commercializing complex oral medicines." What Does a Single Development-To-Commercial Line Change? For formulators and process engineers, the most consequential claim is the removal of traditional scale-up. Moving a process from development equipment to commercial equipment typically requires engineering runs, bridging work, and consumption of scarce API, all of which weigh heavily on early programs with limited material. "Installing the CDC Flex at 89 Twin Rivers makes continuous tableting part of an integrated US development and manufacturing workflow," said David Basile, Vice President of Technical Operations, Hovione, in the press release. "Customers can move from formulation and particle engineering to commercial tablets with one Hovione team and one quality system, eliminating traditional scale-up while gaining greater production flexibility, process control and supply continuity." Co-locating spray drying and tableting is also significant because amorphous solid dispersions remain a primary solubility-enhancement route for poorly soluble molecules, and transferring intermediates between sites or vendors adds technology transfer and comparability burdens. The new line builds on the company's earlier US expansion; Hovione recently completed a $100 million investment to bolster US capacity in particle design, amorphous solid dispersions via spray drying, and batch and continuous tableting. How Is the Regulatory Environment Shaping Continuous Tableting Adoption? The company points to the 2022 adoption of ICH Q13, which provides harmonized guidance for continuous manufacturing of drug substances and drug products across the US, Europe, and Japan. Hovione reports that, as of 2024, FDA alone had approved 17 products manufactured under the guidance. Speaking on ICH Q13, FDA's Kelley Burridge, PhD, "Perceived barriers to continuous manufacturing have been falling one by one," and noted an FDA publication showing faster approval times for products with continuous manufacturing elements than for comparable batch products. The platform incorporates inline process analytical technology and automated controls for real-time quality monitoring, along with SimpleCT, an automation and control suite intended to support a single process from development through commercial supply. For sponsors weighing supply resilience and regional sourcing, the East Windsor installation extends a capability that Hovione says only it currently offers as a contract development and manufacturing organization.   Read the full article at PharmTech.com  

Press Clipping
PharmTech, 5 October 2026

Can Continuous Tableting End Scale-Up for Complex Oral Drugs?

Oct 05, 2026

Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing  Hovione Completes $46-M Tablet Mfg Facility Expansion  Hovione, a CDMO of drug substances and drug products, has completed an expansion of its tablet development and manufacturing center at its main global campus in Loures, Portugal, adding 25% more commercial-scale batch tableting capacity for oral solid dosage products. The expansion strengthens integrated manufacture of amorphous solid dispersions by spray drying and tableting at a single site. The recently inaugurated expansion completes an investment cycle of more than EUR 40 million ($46 million).  Hovione expanded its batch tableting capacity by adding an additional line mirroring the original unit across every local operation: dispensing, blending, dry granulation, tableting, and film coating. The mirrored configuration reinforces capacity at the 300 kg to 400 kg batch scale and provides both redundancy and like-for-like product transfers between lines. Supporting areas, including in-process control and staging space sized to the increased production capacity, were also added as part of the expansion.  Read the full article at DCATVCI.org  

Press Clipping
DCAT Value Chain Insights, 3 September 2026

Supplier News: Lonza, Evonik, Hovione, Catalent & More

Sep 03, 2026

The company is building out more than 200,000 square feet of space in New Jersey. In April, Contract Pharma had the opportunity to tour Hovione’s expanded manufacturing facility in East Windsor, NJ. The company is planning a formal ribbon-cutting this fall; before that, we got an inside look at some new features. Having established United States operations in 2002, Hovione now has more than 200,000 square feet of space in New Jersey. This will be developed into a large, integrated campus in the next five to ten years. Overall, the company’s recent NJ expansion, which began in 2025, has tripled its total spray-drying capacity in the U.S. Future Facility Upgrades A 125,000-square-foot greenfield acquired by Hovione at the East Windsor campus will eventually be a large-scale production site. This includes enhanced quality control and R&D capabilities. Together, all this adds to Hovione’s stable of manufacturing sites, R&D centers, and other offices spread across three continents. Key to the expansion is a targeted reduction of Hovione’s carbon footprint by 40% by the year 2030. Part of this goal is embracing new and/or changing solvent types to help meet sustainability standards. Additionally, the company says automation that has been put in place at its Portugal site will be replicated in NJ. Hovione Aligns NJ Operations At the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) Week in New York in March, Contract Pharma met with Hovione. There, David Basile, Vice President of Technical Operations—Americas, further illustrated the New Jersey expansion. “Hovione aims to build an equivalent manufacturing network, where clients can go to any site across the globe,” Basile said. “The design of the facility has been well-thought through with material flows [and] gravity-fed processes. It’s scalable. We call each one of these building segments a finger. You can copy and paste these fingers, and they are built to house both spray drying and drug product assets.” Ultimately, with these moves and a strategic partnership model, Hovione aims to provide customers an opportunity to co-invest and access the company’s proprietary knowledge and assets to accelerate programs and create long-term value. Read the full article at ContractPharma.com    

Press Clipping
Contract Pharma, 31 July 2026

Hovione Planning Ribbon-Cutting at NJ Facility – A Behind-the-Scenes Preview

Jul 31, 2026

Also in Events

See All