Pharmaceutical giant reveals product development plans in 2022 results

Global pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim said it had 20 new animal health products in the pipeline as it released its annual results for 2022.

The €4.6 billion (£4 billion) in net animal health product sales made by the world’s number two pharmaceutical player was comparable to 2021 – impacted by an economic slowdown in North America, increased competition and declining net sales of swine vaccines in China.

But net sales of Nexgard rose 8% to reach more than €1 billion (£880 million) – an industry first – while the company said it spent €464 million (£408 million) in 2022 on research and development, a figure it said was well above the industry average.

Product pipeline

In a report after its results were revealed, Boehringer Ingelheim said it had an “ambitious schedule to launch about 20 new products”, with the first out this year.

The products included novel flea and tick products for cats and dogs, and a breakthrough oral product for cats with diabetes.

It said it anticipated moderate growth in 2023 on a comparable basis, with a slight increase in its operating income “creating the fundamentals for bringing more innovative medicines to patients and animals”.

Group figures

Across the company, including human health, net sales for Boehringer Ingelheim rose 10.5% to €24.1 billion (£21.2 billion), and 30 million patients benefited from its medicines, with overall research and development hitting €5 billion (£4.4 billion) – or 21% of net sales.

Operating income rose by 1.4% to €4.8 billion (£4.2 billion) and income after taxes was €3.2 billion (£2.8 billion).

Hubertus von Baumbach, chairperson of the board of managing directors, said: “[The year] 2022 has shown that our long-term commitment to medical research is the right strategy.

“For some patient conditions that were until recently deemed difficult to treat, we have now found medical entities that can be true breakthroughs.”