#BIOSPAIN2025 | HIPRA Biotech Services: strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy in biotechnology

Within the framework of BIOSPAIN 2025, HIPRA Biotech Services stands out as a key player in strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy in biotechnology. Leveraging HIPRA’s more than 50 years of scientific and technical excellence, this business unit provides end-to-end solutions for the development and manufacturing of biological products, from early research to large-scale production.

As Gold Sponsor of BIOSPAIN 2025, HIPRA reaffirms its commitment to the biotechnology ecosystem. We spoke with Eduard Viladesau, Managing Director of HIPRA Biotech Services, to learn more about the role this division plays within the company’s global strategy, its value proposition for the biotech sector, and its vision for innovation, sustainability, and the future.

AseBio. What is HIPRA Biotech Services and how does it fit into HIPRA’s global strategy?

Eduard Viladesau. HIPRA Biotech Services is the contract development and manufacturing business unit (CDMO) within HIPRA’s Human Health Division.

Its purpose is to make available to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide HIPRA’s more than 50 years of scientific and technical excellence in the development and production of biological products, from the early stages of research to large-scale manufacturing and commercialization, across a wide range of technologies and biological platforms.

The unit is a further step in building HIPRA Group’s vision of contributing to global health (the “One Health” concept), following the creation of the Human Health Division in 2020. It also addresses the need to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy by increasing the availability of biotechnological production capabilities and technologies in Spain and Europe to ensure healthcare security and citizens’ access to health products and services.

AseBio. What types of solutions and services does this unit offer to companies in the biotechnology sector?

Eduard Viladesau. HIPRA Biotech Services provides development and manufacturing services for biological products across a wide range of platforms, including entities produced using cell culture, such as monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, or a vast catalog of viral antigens (beyond vaccines); others produced through microbial fermentation such as peptides and recombinant proteins; and the formulation and sterile filling of such entities.

HIPRA Biotech Services offers an end-to-end solution, supporting clients throughout the entire product lifecycle: from cell line development, process development for both active substances and finished product formulation, analytical method development, production of batches for preclinical and clinical studies, and finally industrial scale-up and commercial manufacturing of both active substance and finished product.

AseBio. What type of clients does HIPRA Biotech Services primarily target, and what competitive advantages do you offer compared to other providers?

Eduard Viladesau. We target companies of all sizes that require development and/or manufacturing services for biological products.

In principle, we do not restrict ourselves geographically but aim to serve any biotech in need of our capabilities, regardless of country of origin. That said, our commercial efforts will logically focus on the main biotechnology innovation hubs where most of these companies are located.

It is also important to highlight that the entire value chain is based in Spain, making the local market a priority to support and contribute our expertise to companies with specific biological needs.

Our differentiating factors compared to other CDMOs in biologics include:

• Over 50 years of scientific and technical excellence across a wide range of biological processes, with experience in more than 300 biological entities and over 20 expression systems.
• Immediately available capacity in cell culture, microbial fermentation, aseptic filling of liquid vials, and final product packaging.
• “Gene-to-vial” development timelines among the shortest in the industry, proven by the development and adaptation of our own products.
• More than 450 people in R&D and over 1,000 in production, with a mindset of determination and optimism in solving clients’ challenges.
• State-of-the-art facilities and equipment with an outstanding quality track record, backed by nearly 30 years of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification by the Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS), and located within the EU.

AseBio. Could you tell us more about the technological capabilities and infrastructure you have available for your partners?

Eduard Viladesau. We have newly inaugurated development laboratories at our HIPRA Campus in Aiguaviva (Girona), equipped with the latest-generation technology for:

• Cell line development.
• Upstream and downstream process development for biological drug substance, as well as advanced formulation development.
• Development of all types of analytical methods.
• Design and execution of preclinical studies.
• Analysis of samples from clinical studies.

We also have manufacturing facilities equipped with the best technologies across the following platforms:

• Cell culture: currently 4 single-use 500L bioreactors and 2 of 50L, 3 chromatography systems, and 3 tangential flow filtration systems; we are building a new unit that will double this capacity and include 2 single-use 2000L reactors.
• Microbial fermentation: we are qualifying our new facilities at HIPRA Campus, with 4 stainless steel fermenters of 2000L, 4 of 100L, as well as 8 single-use bioreactors of 2000L and 4 of 200L.
• Aseptic filling: a high-speed liquid vial filling line with isolator and 100% in-process control, capable of filling 80 million vials per year.
• Final packaging: two modular, high-speed final packaging lines configurable for a wide range of formats.

AseBio. Customization and innovation are key in biotechnology. How do you integrate these aspects into your services?

Eduard Viladesau. We build on HIPRA’s more than 50 years of innovation, with a proprietary product portfolio that includes over 100 products launched to market, 20 of them in the last 10 years. Beyond product innovation, HIPRA stands out for its technological innovation capacity. One example is our Digital Health department, which developed Smart Traceability, the first market solution that automates and digitizes the traceability of any treatment performed by a veterinary team on a farm. This system uses intelligent medical devices designed by our own unit, ensuring precise, automatic traceability while also simplifying the work of veterinarians and farmers.

Another example is HIPRA Robotics, the unit driving advanced automation of processes in our Production and R&D centers through robotic systems and other cutting-edge initiatives.

At HIPRA Biotech Services, we contribute a client-centric approach, tailoring each proposal and project to the specific needs of the client while leveraging HIPRA’s expertise to jointly develop the best solution.

Determination and optimism are values that define HIPRA, so we always focus on finding the best solution and overcoming any obstacle—both for our own products and those of our clients.

AseBio. Could you share a success story or noteworthy collaboration that illustrates the added value of HIPRA Biotech Services?

Eduard Viladesau. As with all CDMOs, we must maintain client confidentiality. However, we can say that after only 6 months of operation, we have already launched our first client project, where we are applying our development and manufacturing expertise to propose process and material improvements that ensure better process performance and greater regulatory security in view of the eventual registration of their product.

AseBio. What role does sustainability play in your business model and biotechnology services?

Eduard Viladesau. HIPRA Group, and by extension HIPRA Biotech Services, has been deeply committed to sustainability for many years. “GO SUSTAINABLE” is the motto of HIPRA’s Corporate Sustainability Strategy. This structural strategy is based on ESG criteria (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It is structured around three main pillars that reflect the company’s strategic sustainability areas: GO GREEN, focused on environmental care; GO PEOPLE, oriented towards the social and community sphere; and GO ETHICAL, centered on ethics and governance.

AseBio. As Gold Sponsor of BIOSPAIN 2025, what motivated you to support the event and what expectations do you have for your participation?

Eduard Viladesau. As a leading Spanish biotechnology company, it is our responsibility to actively participate in AseBio and the events it organizes.

We believe that HIPRA as a whole—and HIPRA Biotech Services in particular—is today one of the most exciting and high-potential biotechnology projects in Spain and Europe. We want to present this project to all ecosystem stakeholders, including clients, service providers, and talent interested in joining us. With this goal, we decided to be a Gold Sponsor of BIOSPAIN and encourage everyone to visit us at our booth to learn more about the project.