Pharmaceutical giant Hovione invests €200 million in Seixal

The multinational pharmaceutical giant Hovione has invested €200 million in a factory on the south bank of the Tagus River at Seixal.

The project, which involves the cooperation of the Seixal Municipal Council and the south bank development and regeneration company Lisbon South Bay (Baía do Tejo) will be announced publicly tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Loures based company says that the project will create 200 direct jobs for highly qualified staff.

While the actual details will only be divulged tomorrow, over the past 18 months the Mayor of Seixal Joaquim Santos mentioned this project and others in an interview with Essential Business in November last year.

The factory will be set up on land owned by the council which also has projects worth a total of €1Bn earmarked for the riverside town including tourism, leisure and hotel projects.

The presentation of the project tomorrow will be made by the firm’s CEO Guy Villax, the President of Baía do Tejo, Jacinto Pereira and Mayor of Seixal Joaquim Santos.

The company states, “This investment, one of the most important on the south bank of the River Tagus in recent years, involves the construction of a high-technology industrial unit that will enable the company to research and develop chemical processes and medical devices as well as drugs for the international pharmaceutical industry.”

In addition to its investment in Seixal, Hovione also has factories in Loures, China, the United States and Ireland.

In September the company, founded in 1959 in Portugal by Ivan Villax, opened a research and development centre in New Jersey in an investment worth €30 million.