Press Room

Event

DDF - 14th American Drug Delivery & Formulation Summit

Start

Monday, September 16, 2024 - 09:00

End

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - 18:00

Location: San Diego, United States

Hovione presents the Biologics session delivered in the American DDF Summit, titled "Hovione Synthetic Sugars: Excipients Enhancing Protein Stability and Performance Across Bioprocessing", during the event, September 16-17

Hovione will be exhibiting at the American Drug Delivery & Formulation Summit (DDF), an event that brings together industry experts to address key challenges in pharmaceuticals, biologics, and device development. This edition features two days of presentations and networking opportunities with over 300 scientific leaders from pharma, biotech, and drug delivery sectors.

Don’t miss the chance to speak with our experts and learn how our extensive knowledge and experience can support your project from early stages of development to commercialization.

On September 16, don’t miss our Biologics session

Hovione Synthetic Sugars: Excipients Enhancing Protein Stability and Performance Across Bioprocessing

Process and formulation development for protein-based therapeutics needs to overcome several stress factors during bioprocessing, long-term storage of the bulk drug substance and of the final drug product. Stabilization of proteins against temperature, acidic pH, and shear stresses is crucial to maintain therapeutic efficacy and safety. Acidic conditions, common in viral inactivation and chromatography steps, can disrupt protein structure, while temperature exposure and shaking during mixing, transport, and storage can induce denaturation and aggregation. These destabilizing factors hinder the manufacturing, purification, and storage of protein therapeutics, leading to the loss of biological activity and potential immune responses.

To address these challenges, strategies such as using stabilizing excipients and optimizing buffer systems are commonly employed. Herein we present a platform of novel synthetic sugars as a solution for ensuring more robust biopharmaceuticals, with case-studies around the impact of adding these sugars to different model biomolecules under temperature, shaking and low pH stresses, showing that these can provide significant improvements in enhancing protein stability and manufacturing processes’ performance.

Session Highlights:

Overcoming the challenges of protein stabilization during bioprocessing.
Case studies showcasing enhanced stability under temperature, shaking, and low pH stresses.
Innovative solutions for improving the manufacturing and storage of protein therapeutics.

Schedule a meeting with our experts and discover firsthand how our innovative platform of synthetic sugars can improve the development and delivery of your biopharmaceuticals, ensuring optimal stability and manufacturing processability performance.

Eunice Costa, Ph.D.
R&D Director

Eunice Costa joined Hovione in 2011 and currently leads the Research & Development activities in the field of Advanced Drug Delivery at Hovione. As Director, she is accountable for formulation and manufacturing process development as well as medical device design for advanced drug delivery modalities, supporting Pharma partners pushing forward innovative and generic medicines.

Since joining Hovione, Eunice has been actively researching the impact of particle engineering, particularly spray drying, formulation composition and processing on performance, stabilization and disposition of medicines, particularly biologics, supervising multiple PhD and MSc thesis. Prior to that she has held positions as junior researcher in organizations such as Genentech, TNO and academia. Eunice is a PhD in Bioengineering Systems from the MIT-Portugal program, during which she has investigated polymer synthesis and processing for biological applications.

Schedule your meeting today and find out how we can support your project.

Find more about DDF Summit.

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Three is the magic number for Hovione as it’s once again been certified as a top employer. For the third consecutive year, all four of its manufacturing sites - Lisbon, Cork, East Windsor in USA, and Macau - have been certified as Top Employers by the Top Employers Institute. Hovione is an international integrated pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organisation. This certification follows, Hovione said, a rigorous audit process. Jean-Luc Herbeaux, Chief Executive Officer, Hovione, explained: “This recognition reflects the exceptional dedication and collaboration of the entire Hovione team. Hovione is a development and manufacturing service company operating in one of the most demanding and regulated industries. We understand that our success is deeply rooted in our people. “Together, as One Hovione, we are committed to continuously refining our practices to foster a workplace that inspires motivation and enhances employee satisfaction, so that, every day, our team members bring their best selves to work, driving innovation and excellence at every step,” Jean-Luc added. Ilda Ventura, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources and Member of the Management Board, Hovione, said: “This distinction underscores our unwavering commitment to our people. At Hovione, we design our HR systems and processes to ensure that every team member enjoys a consistent and fulfilling experience, regardless of their role, function, or location.” Imelda Cummins, HR Director for Hovione Ireland, said: “This distinguished accreditation is a testament to our commitment to establish frameworks to attract, engage and retain top talent. We believe that our people are our greatest asset, and this recognition reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire team who strive every day to foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration. Receiving the Top Employer accreditation is motivation for us to keep pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an exceptional employer.” Hovione recently celebrated the opening of a multi-million euro expansion at its site in Ringaskiddy, which almost doubled the capacity of its spray drying facilities. Read the full article on CorkIndependent.com

Press Clipping

Cork Independent, 22 January 2025

Hovione gets top employer accolade

Jan 22, 2025

Hovione has once again solidified its position as a top employer in all four of its manufacturing sites - Lisbon (Portugal), Cork (Ireland), East Windsor (NJ, USA), and Macau. The program highlights the company’s significant advancements in several critical areas, including Purpose & Values, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), Employer Branding, and Recognition & Rewards, driven by sustained investment in people. This certification from the Top Employers Institute follows a rigorous audit process and underscores Hovione’s consistency in investing in people and world-class workplace practices, as well as the unwavering commitment of its more than 2,300 employees to the company's core purpose and values. “This recognition reflects the exceptional dedication and collaboration of the entire Hovione team,” said Jean-Luc Herbeaux, Chief Executive Officer. “Hovione is a development and manufacturing service company operating in one of the most demanding and regulated industries. We understand that our success is deeply rooted in our people. Together, as One Hovione, we are committed to continuously refining our people practices to foster a workplace that inspires motivation and enhances employee satisfaction, so that, every day, our team members bring their best selves to work, driving innovation and excellence at every step.” Macau, which became the first company in the region to achieve Top Employer certification last year, has successfully renewed the status, solidifying Hovione’s global leadership in workplace excellence. With its consistent Top Employer recognition, Hovione demonstrates that the talent strategy is perfectly aligned with the business strategy. Watch Ilda Ventura, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources and Member of the Management Board of Hovione, video about what this certification means for Hovione. For additional information, please read the press release.

News

The certification is granted to Hovione's four manufacturing sites for the third consecutive year.