Hovione has completed a more than €40 million expansion of its tablet development and manufacturing center in Loures, Portugal, adding commercial-scale batch tableting capacity for oral solid dosage products.
The expansion increases the manufacturing area at the site by 25% and adds a second batch tableting line that mirrors the original unit across dispensing, blending, dry granulation, tableting and film coating. The project also created 50 skilled jobs in production, engineering, quality, science and technology.
The added line expands Hovione’s capacity at the 300-kilogram to 400-kilogram batch scale. Its matching configuration is intended to provide operational redundancy and allow like-for-like product transfers between lines, reducing risk as programs move from development into commercial supply.
The company also added in-process control and staging areas sized for the increased production capacity.
Hovione said the investment strengthens its ability to manufacture amorphous solid dispersions, or ASDs, through spray drying and convert them into finished tablets at a single site. Combining the two steps within one quality system is intended to shorten development timelines and simplify supply chains by avoiding the transfer of intermediates between sites or suppliers.
ASDs produced by spray drying are used to address poor solubility, an issue Hovione said affects development timelines for more than 70% of new molecular entities.
Co-Chief Executives António Almeida and Marco Gil said the investment improves the scale and flexibility of Hovione’s Portugal operations as drugmakers seek faster development timelines and more resilient supply chains closer to their markets.
Jorge Pastilha, Hovione’s vice president of technical operations for Europe and Asia, said the choice to mirror the existing line was deliberate. Products validated on one line can be moved to the second line without reformulation or redevelopment, he said, supporting continuity of supply.
The expansion follows Hovione’s 2022 investment in a next-generation continuous tablet manufacturing line at the same industrial complex. The company said it continues to invest in both established batch processes and continuous manufacturing infrastructure as pharmaceutical companies assess the two production approaches.
Hovione’s Sete Casas facility in Loures employs approximately 1,250 people and serves customers that include 19 of the world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical companies. The company said the latest investment also increases export capacity and reinforces Portugal’s role in the development and manufacture of medicines for global patients.