Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH is a pharmaceutical company which concentrates on the development of human pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, chemicals, and animal health products. The Human Pharmaceuticals sector is the company’s largest division, accounting for about 96% of sales. This includes prescription medicines and consumer healthcare products.

Boehringer Ingelheim is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).^[1]

History

The company was founded in 1885 during the Gründerzeit by the German chemist Dr Albert Boehringer. Initially it produced tartaric acid from wine yeast in a small factory in Ingelheim, together with 20 employees. Today, the Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies. For many years, Boehringer Ingelheim has been one of the fastest-growing companies in the pharmaceutical industry and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of biopharmaceuticals for industrial customers.

Fields of activity

The business areas consist of Human Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. In 2008, 41,300 employees were in 138 affiliated companies worldwide, research and development (R&D) facilities were in ten countries and production plants in 16 countries.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pharma Chemicals business has pioneered the commercial production of monomers and biodegradable polymers for more than 20 years. The mission of the Product Unit RESOMER within Boehringer Ingelheim Phama Chemicals Division is to develop, produce, and sell monomers and biodegradable polymers for the production of medical devices or pharmaceutical formulations.

Collaborative Research

In addition to internal research and development activities Boehringer Ingelheim is also involved in publicly funded collaborative research projects, with other industrial and academic partners. One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox.^[2][3] The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative ofEFPIA and the European Commission.^[4]

Operational/development sites

The company’s largest site and corporate headquarters is located in Ingelheim am Rhein near Mainz and Frankfurt, Germany. However, Boehringer Ingelheim is a globally operating company, with 138 subsidiaries around the globe. Their main business regions are Europe, North America and Asia. In 1988 Boehringer co-founded the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology^[5] in Vienna (Austria).

As of December 2008, the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies had 41,300 employees worldwide. Of these, about 30% worked in production, 39% in marketing and sales, and 16.5% in research and development. In Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, Boehringer Ingelheim has received recognition as one of the best employers for the year 2008. For example, in 2005, the German magazine ‘Capital’ placed the company second in a 2005 list of Germany’s best employers, and in the United Kingdom the company was placed 19th in The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies To Work For. In 2006 the Science magazine (US) listed Boehringer Ingelheim as second place for top employers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.^[6].

Key product lines

Aggrenox, Antistax, Bisolvon, Buscopan, Buscapina, Dulcolax, Duramune, Flomax, Metacam, Micardis + Micardis Plus, Mirapex,Mucosolvan, Mucoangin, Mobic, Spiriva, Pharmaton, Pradaxa, Resomer, Vetmedin, and Zantac