Innovative HEXAL – Research & development

HEXAL has always attached prime importance to inhouse development – and this strategy has paid dividends. HEXAL is now Germany's foremost producer of so-called "difficult-to-make" generics.

Patient-friendly dosage forms and new dosages of proven active substances

HEXAL pharmaceuticals are affordable, high-quality medicinal products – they are much more than simply copies. They guarantee the reliability and safety of proven active ingredients, while at the same time benefiting from ongoing developments and specific improvements.

The galenic optimisation of proven substances makes medication easier to use for patients and expands the therapeutic scope for the attending physician. Additional active substance contents, tablets which can be divided easily and precisely, practical dosage aids, pleasant taste, and (where possible) the omission of colourings and preservatives: these are just some of the reasons which make HEXAL products "pharmaceuticals you can trust".

Multiparticular prolonged-release products

Innovative depot and prolonged-release formulations with specific dissolution profiles allow controlled uptake of the medication in the body and reduce the frequency with which the product needs to be administered.

Transdermal therapeutic systems (TTS) and implants

Patches containing active pharmaceutical ingredients – another focal point of HEXAL's research activities – ensure continuous drug release through the skin and prevent fluctuations in the concentration of the active ingredients in the blood.

Special implants act as storages for active substances in the body. They serve as medication depots for the controlled dissolution of active ingredients in hormone replacement and pain therapy. Implants are injected into the subcutaneous fatty tissue, release the active substance over a period of weeks, and dissolve without trace. Following inhouse development, HEXAL launched the first Leuprorelin depot – in the form of a slow-releasing implant – on the German market in 2007.

Biotechnology –cell biology research at its highest level

HEXAL is also the pacesetter in Germany in the field of biosimilars, the follow-up products of biotechnically produced pharmaceuticals. At Oberhaching in the suburbs of Munich, HEXAL has been developing and manufacturing so-called biosimilar medicinal products since 1999. Its Biotech Division operates with a wide range of genetic engineering and biopharmaceutical methods. The first biosimilar of Epoetin-alfa to be generally available on the German market was developed by HEXAL and introduced in 2007.