Press Room

Press Release / Mar 07, 2023

Hovione receives the 2023 CDMO Leadership Award in all six categories and is Champion in Compatibility and Expertise

Hovione won the 2023 CDMO Leadership Award across all six categories across all three groups of respondents

Hovione wons 2023 CDMO Awards in all six categories

Lisbon, March 8th, 2023 – Hovione, the leader in spray drying and particle engineering, won the 2023 CDMO Leadership Award across all six categories – capability, compatibility, expertise, quality, reliability and service across all three groups of respondents (Big Pharma, Small Pharma, and Overall (combined Big and Small Pharma)). Hovione was given additional recognition as a CDMO Leadership Award Champion in the categories of Compatibility and Expertise for scoring as a top performer in comparison to the weighted average of other CDMOs included in the Industry Standard Research (ISR)’s annual Contract Manufacturing Quality Benchmarking survey. 

Established in 2011 by Outsourced Pharma and Life Science Leader, the CDMO Leadership Awards spotlight excellence in Capabilities, Expertise, Quality, Compatibility, Reliability and Service. The CDMO Leadership Awards teamed up with ISR to determine the award recipients - 72 contract manufacturers were assessed by 23 performance metrics in ISR’s annual Contract Manufacturing Quality Benchmarking survey. 

"We are honored and proud to receive this award in all six categories. This broad recognition reflects the dedication of our team to help our customers deliver much-needed medicines to the market," said Dr. Jean-Luc Herbeaux, Hovione’s CEO. “This is not the first time Hovione is recognized by the CDMO Leadership awards and winning these awards once again reinforces our commitment to excellence and differentiation in the services we provide to our customers.” 

“For over a decade, these awards have been the most meaningful for biopharma organizations striving to obtain optimal outcomes from their outsourcing activities. Our research arm, ISR Reports, which only surveys drug sponsors who have worked directly and recently with specific CDMOs, ensures the validity of these results. Our winners are your gold medalists of outsourcing.” Louis Garguilo, Chief Editor and Conference Chair, Outsourced Pharma.

Hovione has been expanding worldwide, demonstrating the commitment to its customers. Hovione has been investing in new laboratory and production assets and innovative technologies to meet customer demand for integrated and differentiated services in manufacturing of drug substances, particles and drug products. 
​​​​​​

​​​​​About Hovione
Hovione is an international company with over 60 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing operations. As a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with a fully integrated offering of services for drug substances, drug product intermediates and drug products. The company has four FDA inspected sites in the USA, Portugal, Ireland and China and development laboratories in Lisbon, Portugal and New Jersey, USA. Hovione provides pharmaceutical customers services for the development and compliant manufacture of innovative drugs, including highly potent compounds, and customized product solutions across the entire drug life cycle. In the inhalation area, Hovione offers a complete range of services, from API, formulation development and devices. Hovione´s culture is based on innovation, quality and dependability. Hovione was the first Chemical/ Pharmaceutical Company to become a Certified B Corp, is a member of Rx-360, EFCG and participates actively in industry quality improvement initiatives to lead new global industry standards.
 

Also in the Press Room

See All

Twenty companies presented at the annual kickoff to DCAT Week. The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) opened DCAT Week 2026 with its Member Company Announcement Forum. The kickoff to the annual event in New York City, underway from March 23–26, 2026, showcased 20 companies. These were selected based on their announcements’ “news priority, criticality, and interest” to DCAT member companies. The following is a summary of highlights from the presentations, supplemented by additional information provided by some of the companies. (...) Hovione Hovione’s Vice President of Technical Operations for the Americas, David Basile, delivered the company’s Member Company Announcement Forum presentation. Basile will be speaking exclusively with Contract Pharma during DCAT Week, so check back for more on Hovione’s latest.   Read the full article at ContractPharma.com    

Press Clipping
Contract Pharma, 23 March 2026

DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum 2026: An Inside Look

Mar 23, 2026

With more than six decades of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, Hovione is an international CDMO offering a comprehensive range of services for New Molecular Entities (NMEs), including drug substances, intermediates, and drug products. The company also supplies niche generic APIs and delivers advanced technologies supporting multiple drug delivery platforms, including oral, injectable, inhalation, and topical formulations.  Today, Hovione employs 2,500 people worldwide and operates 900 m3 of manufacturing capacity across four sites in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Japan has played an important role in the company’s global strategy since its early years. Initial export activities were followed in 2017 by the establishment of a Japanese subsidiary in Osaka.   Read the full article in Japanese at Yakuji.co.jp Read the article translated in English  

Press Clipping
Yakuji Nippo Magazine, 13 March 2026

International CDMO strengthens its presence in Japan: from active pharmaceutical ingredients to formulations, all at the same location

Mar 13, 2026

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).    

Article
Executiva, 23 February 2026

Hovione’s Diane Villax: “I was not brought up to be a business woman”

Feb 23, 2026

Also in Events

See All