Hovione Invests $35 Million in Continuous Tableting Line at New Jersey, US Site

Hovione has committed USD 35 million to bring the world's first ConsiGma® CDC Flex continuous tableting line to its East Windsor, New Jersey campus, with commissioning planned for late 2027.

The announcement, made by the globally integrated pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization on Oct. 5, 2026, confirms that the next-generation equipment will be installed at 89 Twin Rivers, the company's recently opened facility.

Expansion of Drug Product Capabilities and Integrated Manufacturing Pathway

The move expands Hovione's drug product capabilities and reinforces its integrated pharmaceutical development and manufacturing hub in the United States.

Once operational, the line will create an integrated pathway from amorphous solid dispersion manufacturing via spray drying through to commercial tablet production, all at a single site and under one quality system.

Leadership Frames the Technology Bet

Co-Chief Executive Officers Marco Gil and António Almeida said Hovione will be the first company in the world to offer the ConsiGma® CDC Flex, describing the platform as next-generation technology with unprecedented flexibility, simplicity, and cost-efficiency in continuous tableting.

They noted that the investment advances the company's strategy of building integrated capabilities close to customers in key markets, broadening access to the technology in the U.S. and giving customers a more direct and accelerated path for developing and commercializing complex oral medicines.

David Basile, Vice President of Technical Operations, Americas, added that placing the CDC Flex at 89 Twin Rivers embeds continuous tableting within an integrated U.S. development and manufacturing workflow.

In his view, customers can move from formulation and particle engineering to commercial tablets with one Hovione team and one quality system, eliminating traditional scale-up while gaining greater production flexibility, process control, and supply continuity.

One Line, From Grams to Commercial Batches

A defining feature of the ConsiGma® CDC Flex is its operating range. The line can run in continuous or batch modes across throughputs of 1 to 200 kg/h, allowing customers to develop a formulation with as little as 1.5 kg of material and then progress from very small clinical batches to large commercial batches on the same equipment.

This is enabled by specialized design that allows effective switching between continuous blenders of various sizes. The line will also be installed for containment to 1 µg/m³, supporting the handling of highly potent compounds.

According to the announcement, the combination of these features lets customers with complex and diverse pipelines move from development to commercial production without traditional scale-up.

Regulatory Tailwinds for Continuous Manufacturing

The technology arrives amid a favorable regulatory climate. Continuous tableting is reshaping the manufacture of oral solid dosage medicines and suits programs where speed, supply resilience, and efficient use of high-value active pharmaceutical ingredients are priorities, with inline process analytical technology and automated controls delivering real-time quality monitoring.

In 2022, the ICH Q13 regulatory framework guidance specifically for continuous manufacturing of drug substances and drug products was adopted, harmonizing requirements across the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

As of 2024, 17 products manufactured under that international guidance had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alone.

Four Years of Work With GEA

The ConsiGma® CDC Flex platform is the product of a joint development with GEA. The two companies formed a strategic collaboration in 2022 to advance continuous tableting, pairing Hovione's pharmaceutical development and manufacturing experience with GEA's process-engineering expertise.

The partnership aims to simplify the technology, increase its flexibility and speed its adoption across the pharmaceutical industry.

That collaboration progressed in 2024 with the launch of a first-generation ConsiGma® CDC Flex and the installation of a lab-scale R&D continuous tableting rig at Hovione's facilities in Portugal.

In 2025, the companies introduced further developments, including SimpleCT, a suite of automation and control tools with smart interfaces that supports a single process from development to commercial supply.

Designed for versatility and ease of use, SimpleCT simplifies operation, improves efficiency and containment, and enhances operator safety.

Hovione already runs ConsiGma® technology end-to-end for commercial continuous tableting at its Loures site in Portugal and is the only CDMO offering that capability.

The East Windsor installation extends this to the U.S. when the line is commissioned in 2027.

The Company Behind the Line

Hovione brings more than 65 years of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing experience to the project.

As a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization, it offers a fully integrated suite of services spanning drug substances, particle engineering, and drug products and operates four FDA-inspected sites across the U.S., Portugal, Ireland, and China.

The company partners with 19 of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and is involved in up to ten percent of medicines approved annually by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

What 2027 Will Deliver at East Windsor

When commissioning is completed in late 2027, Hovione will become the first company in the world to offer the ConsiGma® CDC Flex.

The installation at 89 Twin Rivers will carry the company's continuous tableting capability from Loures, Portugal to American soil, bringing continuous and batch operation, throughputs from 1 to 200 kg/h, containment to 1 µg/m³, and an integrated route from spray-dried amorphous solid dispersions to commercial tablet production on a single U.S. campus.