Hovione announced the appointment of Dr. Mike Ironside as General Manager, TTC in New Jersey. Dr. Ironside was previously with GSK in the UK and with AMRI and most recently with Anacor Pharmaceuticals, where he held the position of Vice President of Chemical Manufacture and Development both in the USA.

"This is a key appointment at an important time for Hovione. We are certain that Dr. Ironside's leadership qualities combined with his relevant experience in chemical and analytical process development, scale-up from Pilot Plant to full commercial scale will enable us to further strengthen and enlarge our US operations in New Jersey and add new approaches to solve our customers' most challenging problems.", said Dr. Thomas Eisele, Vice President Corporate Research & Development.

"I am excited and honoured about this new opportunity to lead the Hovione team in New Jersey. Throughout my career I have had a great respect for Hovione, a company that is recognized as world leader in pharmaceutical manufacture and particle design. I am looking forward to helping further enhance the TTC's established reputation for offering our customers' integrated solutions for any molecule "said Dr. Ironside.

Dr. Ironside brings over 20 years of experience in the development and scale-up of APIs from lead candidate optimization through to NDA submission and commercialization. He also brings extensive experience in the management of scientific and operational teams in Biotech and Contract Research Organization (CRO) environments.

Dr. Ironside is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in Great Britain and a member of the editorial board of the ACS Journal Organic Process Research and Development. He trained as an organic chemist at Dundee University, Dundee, UK, and holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the same University.