- Hovione has opened a new continuous tableting (CT) line at its R&D center in Lisbon, Portugal.
- The CT line, developed in partnership with GEA, offers increased capacity, flexibility, and efficiency.
Hovione, an integrated specialist CDMO, has inaugurated a state-of-the-art continuous tableting (CT) line at its R&D center in Lisbon, Portugal. The new line is part of Hovione’s collaboration with GEA, a provider of process technology for the pharmaceutical industry, which began in 2022. This partnership aims to advance continuous tableting technology by enhancing capacity, flexibility, standardization, quality, and efficiency.
The new R&D line in Lisbon is unique globally, replicating key components of Hovione’s commercial CT line in Loures, Portugal. It provides high flexibility in throughput and is capable of handling highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). This capability allows for optimizing operating conditions with minimal API use, ensuring a smoother transition from development to commercial scale.
“With this new line, we will be able to optimize operating conditions with minimum amounts of API and provide a higher technical certainty when transferring from development to commercial scale,” said Jaime Del Campo, head of R&D services, Hovione. “The flexibility of the rig and the real-time process data monitoring capabilities contribute to a more agile design and upscaling experience.”
The CT line at Hovione’s Lisbon R&D center is now fully operational, ready to support both existing and new projects. This development is a significant step forward in making continuous tableting a more accessible technology within the pharmaceutical industry.