Hovione

Hovione

Company type	Private
Founded	1959 (1959)
Key people	Jean-Luc Herbeaux (CEO) Diane Villax (Founder-Chairman) Elie Vannier (Chairman) Guy Villax (Non-Executive Board Member)
Products	Pharmaceutical Fine Chemicals Off-Patent APIs Inhalation Dry Powder inhalers
Services	Contract Manufacturing Services Drug Substance Particle Engineering Drug Product Drug Product Intermediate Drug Product Formulation Drug Product Inhalation
Number of employees	2000 (2022)
Website	www.hovione.com

Hovione is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with services for drug substance, drug product intermediate and drug product. The company has four FDA inspected sites in the United States, Portugal, Ireland and China development laboratories in Lisbon, Portugal and New Jersey, USA. Hovione is also present in the inhalation area, and provides a complete range of services, from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), formulation development and devices. Hovione was the first Chemical/ Pharmaceutical Company to become a Certified B Corporation (certification), is a member of Rx-360 ^[1] and EFCG. ^[2]

History

Ivan Villax - 1950

Hovione was established in Portugal in 1959 by Ivan Villax with his wife, Diane Villax, and two other Hungarian refugees: Nicholas de Horthy and Andrew Onody, the first two letters of the three founders’ names: HO, VI and ON were used to create the name Hovione. ^[3]

Hovione continues to be a privately held company with 5 plants - in Portugal (1969), Macao (1986), and New Jersey (2001) expanded in 2016, ^[4] Taizhou in mainland China (2008) and Cork, Ireland (2009) - have a total reactor capacity of 1300 m³ and 1100 people worldwide. Since Hovione started operations in 1959, the company has patented more than 100 innovative chemical processes and produced industrially over 45 different APIs. All Hovione sites have been successfully inspected either by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency or the PMDA Japanese agency. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

Hovione is a major source of semi-synthetic tetracyclines and corticosteroids, and is the largest independent supplier of contrast agents – these three families of compounds make up most of its generic product portfolio. The other half of the business focuses on exclusive projects including the development of innovator APIs and particle engineering. ^{[9] [10]}

Research and development

Hovione has two R&D centers with a team of over 270 scientists, one in Portugal - Loures and another one in its facilities in New Jersey. Hovione has international partnerships, including with Cambridge and MIT. ^[11] In 2016, 7 PhDs were simultaneously running and it launched a scientific program named "9oW", ^[12] which challenges scientific and academic communities to help overcome technological challenges. Also, Hovione is already the largest private employer of doctorates in Portugal (57 doctorates in Loures). ^[13]

Strategy

Hovione was present in the pharmaceutical industry offering products and services related to the development and manufacture of either a new chemical entity (NCE) for an exclusive contract manufacturing partner or an existing API for an off-patent product. In the area of technology, it has capabilities, among others, in spray drying, controlled crystallization, microfluidization, and continuous tabletting. ^[14] Hovione invested about $100 million in 2017 and plans to spend as much again in 2019 and 2020. The plan over the next three years is to continue investing, especially in Portugal, where the firm will add 165 m³ of chemical synthesis capacity, a spray-dryer building, and a 1,200-m² analytical lab. ^[15]

References

1. "Rx-360".
2. "EFCG".
3. "History of Hovione". Hovione. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
4. “Hovione to build US plant for Vertex's cystic fibrosis drugs” - in-Pharma Technologist
5. Fine Chemicals: The Industry and the Business – 2nd Edition, Wiley 2012
6. EPM Magazine ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
7. ""How to avoid icebergs" – Speciality Chemicals Magazine". Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
8. “A test tube in three continents” - Macao Magazine
9. ""Handling potent drug materials" – Clean Room Technology". Archived from the original on 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
10. ""What is special about inhalation APIs?" - Drug Delivery Technology". Archived from the original on 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
11. “Hovione & MIT Portugal Symposium: Showcasing Portuguese Pharma Science” - MIT Portugal ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
12. “Hovione disponível para investir cinco milhões em investigação em Portugal” - Jornal Negócios
13. “O prazer de desenvolver um modelo e vê-lo aplicado em dois meses” - DN
14. “Hovione and Vertex Partner in Continuous Manufacturing” - Cision PR Newswire
15. "Hovione bulks up, with a twist". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2019-05-21.