IN FOCUS: Boehringer Ingelheim presents its ' long and healthy' R&D pipeline

German family-owned drug major Boehringer Ingelheim presented its major pipeline developments at an R&D discovery day on Wednesday. From targeted cancer therapies to treatments for obesity, the company has some strong potential in its pipeline, reports Sophie Flowers for The Pharma Letter.

Boehringer Ingelheim is rightly proud of its R&D pipeline. The company spends 24% of its net sales revenue on R&D, significantly more than average, it boasts. The company was founded in 1885 near the River Rhine in Germany, producing acid for the food industry, and in 1917 became a fully-blown research-driven company. As well as research centers in Germany, Austria, the USA, Japan and Italy, it also works with academic institutions and smaller pharmaceutical companies.

Charles de Wet, Boehringer’s medical director for the UK and Ireland, explained: “It’s our own research that has been the basis of our own compounds, although we’re looking at collaborations with smaller companies and academia because we do realize that the environment has changed, and we do need to look to collaborative work to remain competitive and bringing medicines to the market.”