New CEO at Hovione

The board and shareholders of Hovione have named Dr Jean-Luc Herbeaux (right) as CEO from 1 April. He had originally joined the firm as COO in May 2020, after multiple leadership positions at Evonik, where he last headed the Health Care business line.

Herbeaux will be only the third CEO in Hovione’s history and the first from outside the founding Villax family. Guy Villax (left) will now serve as a board member and shareholder after 25 years at the helm. The company was originally founded by his father, Ivan, and two other Hungarian refugees in Portugal shortly after World War II.

During Guy Villax’s tenure, Hovione grew tenfold. It now employs about 2,000 people and has four production sites in Portugal, the US, China and Macau. He was also a prominent voice in the EFCG and Rx-360 associations, contributing to the push for legislation against fake medicines and to level the playing field for GMP manufacturing in both markets.

“It has been an amazing entrepreneurial and human journey, with so many projects and unforgettable success stories,” Villax said. “I have seen this company, founded by my parents, growing, evolving and constantly re-inventing itself.”