Boehringer Ingelheim has a very successful 2017 financial year

  • Sharp increase in net sales to nearly 18.1 billion euros (+15.7 per cent in currency-adjusted terms; +13.9 per cent in euro terms)
  • Operating income rises significantly to around 3.5 billion euros
  • Return on net sales of 19.3 per cent
  • Strengthened animal health business successful

Ingelheim, Germany, 25. April 2018 – The research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim can look back on a very successful 2017 financial year. All businesses contributed to net sales growth. R&D expenditure exceeded three billion euros, around 2.7 billion euros of which was in the human pharmaceuticals area alone. “There are still more questions than answers in medicine. We want to continue putting all our efforts into tackling the challenges in research. A high level of investment in R&D therefore reflects our corporate identity,” explained Hubertus von Baumbach, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors.

Last year, Boehringer Ingelheim generated net sales of nearly 18.1 billion euros, representing an increase of 15.7 per cent in currency-adjusted terms (+13.9 per cent in euro terms). Adjusted for all the one-off effects that have resulted from the business swap with Sanofi, the company recorded currency-adjusted net sales growth of 6.1 per cent (+4.4 per cent in euro terms). With operating income of around 3.5 billion euros, the return on net sales came to 19.3 per cent. The company employed an average of approximately 50,000 people worldwide in 2017.

Net sales growth in all businesses
Boehringer Ingelheim experienced organic growth across all business areas last year. “Our human pharmaceuticals business in particular exceeded our expectations,” emphasised Michael Schmelmer, Member of the Board of Managing Directors responsible for Finance. “The main growth drivers here were our business in the US market and emerging markets.”

Major success with human pharmaceuticals
In the human pharmaceuticals business, Boehringer Ingelheim last year succeeded in generating net sales of more than one billion US dollars each with six medicines. These were the respiratory medicine SPIRIVA®, the anticoagulant PRADAXA®, the diabetes medicines TRAJENTA® and JARDIANCE®, OFEV®, which is used to treat the rare disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and MICARDIS® medicines used for the treatment of hypertension. Overall, net sales from human pharmaceuticals grew by 6.9 per cent in currency-adjusted terms to more than 12.6 billion euros (+5.0 per cent in euro terms). This growth outpaced the market. The human pharmaceuticals business therefore contributed around 70 per cent of total net sales.

2017 was also a very successful year for Boehringer Ingelheim in R&D. The company accomplished the transfer of 13 new active ingredients to clinical studies as first-in-man applications. The company is thus focusing on the areas of cardiometabolic diseases, oncology, respiratory diseases, diseases of the central nervous system and immunology. “We have an extremely competitive pipeline with 80 development projects,” said von Baumbach. “This provides us with strong future prospects for sustainable business development and particularly for innovation that benefits patients.”

As a result of the additional net sales brought about by the transaction, net sales in animal health have more than doubled to 3.9 billion euros. The two parasiticides generated the largest share of net sales: NEXGARD® is the best-selling product at 546 million euros, followed by FRONTLINE® at 381 million euros. Net sales for the swine vaccine INGELVAC CIRCOFLEX® came to around 300 million euros. Overall, Boehringer Ingelheim generated around 22 per cent of its total net sales in the animal health business. “We have made good progress with a challenging and complex integration process,” explained von Baumbach. “Our employees deserve our unreserved recognition and our gratitude for this – due in no small part to their commitment, we are now a competitive player for the future in the animal health business. We are outstandingly positioned for medical breakthroughs that will make animal diseases controllable through prevention.”

The biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing business grew by 10.7 per cent in currency-adjusted terms last year to 678 million euros and contributed four per cent to total net sales.

Holistic approaches for humans and animals
A key strategic objective of Boehringer Ingelheim is to develop holistic approaches that benefit patients, both human and animal. Digital projects that focus on patients are an example of this. Boehringer Ingelheim recently established the BI X digital laboratory and increased the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund from 100 to 250 million euros, 50 million of which is intended for digital innovation alone. “At the same time, we always ask ourselves how we can further improve the lives of patients and relatives as well as the treatment options for doctors,” explained Schmelmer.

Outlook for 2018
For the current financial year, Boehringer Ingelheim is expecting slight growth in net sales on a comparable basis.

Further information on the 2017 financial year is available for download from the Boehringer Ingelheim website at www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/news/annual_press_conference.

Boehringer Ingelheim
Improving the health and quality of life of patients is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.

Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2017, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of nearly 18.1 billion euros. R&D expenditure, exceeding three billion euros, corresponded to 17.0 per cent of net sales.

As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success, rather than short-term profit. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards mankind and the environment.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report: http://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.