Hovione has unveiled plans for investing in specialized formulation capabilities. The first step of the plan was the acquisition of a formulation facility adjacent to the current process chemistry and particle engineering facility in Loures, Portugal. This acquisition is a strategic investment to further boost development and manufacturing capabilities for both inhalation and oral dosage forms.

The facility will be engineered to enable to work with highly potent APIs and moisture sensitive compounds and will have dedicated rooms to allow for concurrent manufacture of these products. The facility will be capable to prepare a wide range of materials suitable for clinical trials as well as commercial batches meeting global regulatory requirements.

“Over the last decade we have built great knowledge in developing final dosage forms in the area of dry powder inhalation and oral dosage forms and have installed state-of-the-art formulation equipment to support these activities. Adding to our drug substance and particle engineering capabilities this new plant expands our integrated offer and technological capabilities to provide the best service to our customers,” said Filipe Gaspar, vice president R&D, Hovione.

“With this investment we will be able to expand our offerings and provide our clients with new services. I am sure our customers will value the option of not having to ship the material that comes out of our reactors and spray dryers to outside the walls of our site and away from our trusted quality culture. This is also a great way to speed up the entire CMC development to meet the needs of the growing number of accelerated programs that our clients ask us to deliver on,” said Guy Villax, chief executive officer, Hovione.