Academia meets industry

Oeiras, 21.05.12
The Organic Chemistry Groups led by Christopher Maycock and Rita Ventura participated in a successful industry-academia collaboration with Hovione, a Portugal-based international pharmaceutical company. Thanks to a close collaboration and careful project management between both partners, the project has tested a new process for producing an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), which is being patent protected. Unlike previously available methods, it avoids the use of ozone depleting substances.

According to Hovione, “R&D collaborations between industry and academia can be difficult and time consuming in achieving common objectives and formal agreements, but the collaboration with ITQB was quickly established as an R&D service agreement.” The success of the project lies mainly on having scientists managing the project on both sides, Emília Leitão from Hovione and Rita Ventura from ITQB, working together as one team with a common objective. Hovione wishes to pursue further collaborations with academia in Portugal and abroad, and the format established with ITQB is considered a model for future projects.