GERMANY—Boehringer Ingelheim has disclosed human pharma sales of €18.5 billion (US$20.1 billion) mainly driven by Jardiance, a drug for type 2 diabetes and heart failure, and Ofev, a medication for pulmonary fibrosis.
Jardiance’s sales skyrocketed to €5.8 billion (US$6.3 billion), a 39% YoY increase, while Ofev’s sales rose by 20.6%, reaching €3.2 billion (US$3.5 billion).
Michael Schmelmer, the board of managing directors’ finance representative, commented that “The robust financial performance provides a stable foundation for financing our late-stage pipeline, medium-term growth opportunities, and additional investments in new technologies.”
Boehringer Ingelheim highlighted that its research and development (R&D) expenditures on prescription drugs totaled €4.6 billion (US$ 5 billion) in 2022, accounting for 24.8% of net sales, up from €3.7 billion (US$4.02 billion) the previous year.
Apart from these successful drugs, Boehringer is looking to the future with an optimistic outlook. The company expects to receive approximately 20 regulatory approvals in human pharma over the next seven years.
Additionally, Boehringer Ingelheim intends to continue its investment in research and development in new medications this year.
Of particular interest is BI 456906, a GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist co-developed with Zealand Pharma, which has completed Phase II trials as an obesity drug.
CEO Hubertus von Baumbach expressed enthusiasm for the drug and announced that Boehringer plans to move it into Phase III trials as quickly as possible, as per a report by Evaluate Vantage.
Despite Boehringer’s plans to move its GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist BI 456906 into Phase III trials as quickly as possible, the company faces stiff competition in the GLP-1 anti-obesity market.
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) is already approved, while Eli Lilly is expected to finish a second Phase III trial for tirzepatide, another anti-obesity medication, next month, with an FDA filing soon to follow.
Moreover, Pfizer is currently studying its GLP-1 oral medication for obesity, which is partnered with Sosei Heptares, and has already entered Phase II trials.
These factors imply that Boehringer will have to contend with a congested market if and when its GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist is approved.
Boehringer’s sales performance remained impressive, with total sales for 2022 reaching €24.1 billion (US$26.2 billion).
Of this amount, animal health sales accounted for €4.6 billion (US$5.0 billion), while contract manufacturing contributed €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) to the company’s overall revenue.
Boehringer Ingelheim provided an outlook for the future, indicating that it anticipates “moderate” market growth for prescription pharmaceuticals in 2023, despite mounting institutional efforts to decrease drug prices worldwide.
The company’s projections foresee a slight year-over-year increase in overall net sales on a comparable basis.
However, it acknowledged that the present economic situation creates uncertainty and makes the outlook difficult.
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