In 2021, Boehringer Ingelheim’s R&D investment hit 4.1 billion euros ($4.46 billion), a new high in its 137-year history. Among them, R&D investment in human pharmaceuticals was 3.7 billion euros for over 100 products. The company aims to release up to 15 new products by 2025.
Boehringer Ingelheim held a press conference on Tuesday, announcing the achievements of 2021 and R&D plans for enhancing pipelines.
The company’s net sales increased 5.4 percent to 20.6 billion euros in 2021 year-on-year. If currency effects are adjusted, net sales increased 7.5 percent. Operating profit recorded 4.7 billion euros.
Net sales of human pharmaceuticals expanded by 8.4 percent to 15.3 billion euros, accounting for 74 percent of total net sales. Treatments for cardiovascular, metabolic, and respiratory diseases drove up net sales growth. Jardiance, a type-2 diabetes treatment, was the largest revenue contributor in the human pharmaceuticals area. The product net sold 3.9 billion euros.
Ofev, a treatment for lung diseases, was the second drug that contributed to net sales the most. Net sales of Ofev rose 25.4 percent on year to 2.5 billion euros.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s total R&D investment increased 11.7 percent to 4.2 billion euros in 2021. The figure is equivalent to 20 percent of net sales, and it was the largest in the company’s 137-year history.
Hubertus von Baumbach, CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim and chairman of the board of managing directors, said the company saw innovation as the key driver to transform lives, which was why the company spent 20 percent of net sales on R&D in 2021.
“In doing so, we aspire to achieve breakthroughs in areas of high medical need,” he said.
Baumbach went on to say that these investments brought impactful results.
The company has robust pipelines in human pharma with over 100 promising projects at all stages of clinical and preclinical development, and four drugs have obtained the FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation in early 2021.
Baumbach cited SGLT-2 inhibitor Jardiance and generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) treatment candidate spesolimab as good examples of aggressive R&D investment results.
By investing in research to understand Jardiance’s impact on the cardio-metabolic-renal systems, the company could expand indications from diabetes to heart failure. In particular, Jardiance was the only treatment authorized in the EU to treat chronic heart failure regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction.
Baumbach also emphasized spesolimab, which obtained breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA. Spesolimab is an Interleukin-36 targeting monoclonal antibody being developed to treat GPP.
GPP is a rare and fatal skin disease without any authorized treatment. The FDA has already granted breakthrough therapy designation for spesolimab in treating GPP flares. The company submitted approval applications to regulators in major markets around the world.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s PDE4B inhibitor, a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and Gly-T1 inhibitor for treating cognitive impairment received FDA breakthrough therapy designation. The company expects to derive trial results within this year.
Based on these achievements, the company plans to roll out up to 15 new products by 2025. It will also spend more than 25 billion euros on research pipelines for the next five years.
It added that the company has capital expenditure plans worth over 7 billion euros over the next five years to secure new production technologies and a cutting-edge supply network.