Press Room

Press Release / Sep 26, 2012

Hovione Expands Particle Design Solutions

Hovione Expands Particle Design Solutions to Solve Bioavailability and Other Drug Delivery Challenges

Loures, Portugal, 26 September 2012 - Hovione today announced the expansion of its solutions to solve issues of poor bioavailability, patient acceptability and the enabling of optimal delivery for non-oral routes of administration.

Building on the experience of more than 100 projects and successful commercialization of spray dried dispersions, Hovione’s toolkit of solutions now includes crystal design, particle size reduction to the micro or nano-scale and amorphous solid dispersions. These services are offered from bench to commercial scale and are complemented with formulation development and clinical manufacture to Phase II.

“We are very pleased to offer our customers these technologies. In response to customers’ needs, Hovione is investing in new technologies, many of them capable of handling highly potent compounds. These will help drive compounds with development challenges from early clinical to market”, said Guy Villax, Chief Executive.

Colin Minchom PhD, who has been leading Hovione’s Particle Design business since March, stated: “More than the technologies, the quality of Hovione’s scientists, engineers and their experience in the application of 21st Century methodologies such as QbD, PAT and process modelling are outstanding.”

Hovione will be presenting its new offering in detail during the AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition at McCormick Place, Chicago USA. Hovione scientists and staff will be available to support your queries at booth 3936 from October 15-17. The company will also be exhibiting at Booth 3D39 at CPhI in Feria de Madrid, Spain (October 9-11). For those that are interested in the offering but are not able to attend either event, please visit hovione.com/pd or contact particledesign@hovione.com.

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, formulation development and manufacturing. In the inhalation area, Hovione is the only independent company offering such a broad range of services.

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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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