Boehringer Ingelheim posts 5-percent sales growth for prescription drugs in 2017; provides R&D update

Boehringer Ingelheim reported Wednesday that sales of prescription medicines in 2017 rose 5 percent year-over-year to 12.6 billion euros ($15.4 billion), with six medicines generating revenue of over $1 billion. The company's overall sales last year climbed 13.9 percent to 18.1 billion euros ($22.1 billion), as operating income jumped 21 percent to 3.5 billion euros ($4.3 billion).

"Our human pharmaceuticals business in particular exceeded our expectations," remarked chief financial officer Michael Schmelmer, adding "the main growth drivers here were our business in the US market and emerging markets." The company's overall sales in the US reached 6.9 billion euros ($8.4 billion), with revenue from emerging markets surging 28.1 percent to 3.4 billion euros ($4.2 billion).

For specific products, full-year sales of Spiriva reached 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion), down 3.9 percent, while revenue from Pradaxa rose 5.2 percent to 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion). In addition, annual sales of Trajenta/Jentadueto increased 20.5 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion), with revenue from Jardiance, which is marketed with Eli Lilly, more than doubling to 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). Further, sales of Ofev jumped 52.3 percent to 920 million euros ($1.1 billion).

For the current year, Boehringer Ingelheim said that it expects "slight net sales growth" on a comparable basis.

The company also on Wednesday presented an update on its drug pipeline, noting that it hopes to submit 15 new medicines for approval by 2025, whilst committing over 20 billion euros ($24.4 billion) to R&D over the same time period. "Some 65 percent of our drug pipeline candidates already have breakthrough and/or first-in-class potential, and we aim for even more," remarked Michel Pairet, board member responsible for Boehringer Ingelheim's innovation unit.

The drugmaker highlighted its IL-36 receptor inhibitor BI 655130, which is being studied for immune-mediated diseases of the skin and intestine, as well as combinations of immune-cell targeted therapies in oncology, such as a SMAC mimetic with the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor BI 754091. Boehringer Ingelheim noted that its oncology portfolio includes more than 10 clinical-stage assets, covering pathways such as KRAS, WNT and p53.

Meanwhile, the company said that it has expanded its PDE9 inhibition research programmes to the prevention of relapse in schizophrenia and also in the prevention of first episode psychosis. Boehringer Ingelheim noted that two Phase III trials are evaluating Ofev (nintedanib) in systemic sclerosis interstitial lung disease and progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease, while it is investigating an AOC3 inhibitor in a mid-stage study for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Further, Boehringer Ingelheim is seeking to expand the use of Jardiance (empagliflozin) beyond diabetes. Phase III studies are under way investigating Jardiance in patients with chronic kidney disease and in subjects with chronic heart failure, with the trials expected to read between 2019 and 2020.

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