Jardiance set to fill blockbuster void at Boehringer Ingelheim

A stellar performance from the diabetes drug Jardiance (empagliflozin) is keeping Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim firmly on the path to growth as it prepares for the loss of patent protection on its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease blockbuster Spiriva (tiotropium).

However, at its annual press conference in Ingelheim, the actual 2016 sales figures for the oral, once-daily, selective sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, which is partnered with Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), had to be teased out of management. The figure was 433 million euros, which was ahead of analyst forecasts and was particularly impressive given that this does not include the effect of having a cardiovascular risk reduction claim added to the label in the USA in December.

Allan Hillgrove, board member with responsibility for the company’s human pharma business unit, told The Pharma Letter that the new label has just kicked in and both Lilly and BI have only now started promoting along those lines in the USA. It means that the companies can speak to physicians and payors about the much-trumpeted EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial data from 2015 which demonstrated that Jardiance reduced the risk of dying from heart attacks or strokes by 38% in diabetes patients with cardiovascular risk.