Press Room

Press Release / Aug 30, 2012

Hovione Announces the Appointment of Mike Ironside, PhD as General Manager TTC

Loures, Portugal, 30 August 2012 - Hovione today announced the appointment of Dr. Mike Ironside as General Manager, TTC in New Jersey. Dr. Ironside was previously with GSK in the UK and AMRI and most recently with Anacor Pharmaceuticals, both in USA, where he held the position of Vice President of Chemical Manufacture and Development.

“This is a key appointment at an important time for Hovione. We are certain that Dr. Ironside’s leadership qualities combined with his relevant experience in chemical and analytical process development, scale-up from Pilot Plant to full commercial scale will enable us to further strengthen and enlarge our US operations in New Jersey and add new approaches to solve our customers’ most challenging problems.”, said Dr. Thomas Eisele, Vice President Corporate Research & Development.

“I am excited and honoured about this new opportunity to lead the Hovione team in New Jersey. Throughout my career I have had a great respect for Hovione, a company that is recognized as world leader in pharmaceutical manufacture and particle design. I am looking forward to helping further enhance the TTC’s established reputation for offering our customers’ integrated solutions for any molecule “said Dr. Ironside.

Dr. Ironside brings over 20 years of experience in the development and scale-up of APIs from lead candidate optimization through to NDA submission and commercialization. He also brings extensive experience in the management of scientific and operational teams in Biotech and Contract Research Organization (CRO) environments.

Dr. Ironside is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in Great Britain and a member of the editorial board of the ACS Journal Organic Process Research and Development. He trained as an organic chemist at Dundee University, Dundee, UK, and holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the same University.

About Hovione

Hovione is a global company with over 50 years’ experience in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug Product Intermediate development and compliant manufacture. With four FDA inspected sites in the U.S., China, Ireland, and Portugal, the company focuses on the most demanding customers, in the most regulated markets. Hovione 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 more information about Hovione, please visit www.hovione.com  or contact Marketing & Communication, Isabel Pina, + 351 21 982 9362, e-mail:ipina@hovione.com 

 

 

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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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