Boeh Ingelheim To Focus On Alliances

German family-owned pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim is focussing on forming alliances with smaller innovative companies, according to Rolf Krebs, member of the board of managing directors responsible for pharmaceuticals. At a press conference to present its annual report for 1995, he dismissed mega-mergers currently favored in the drug industry as unlikely to offer significant benefits to BI.

In 1995, sales advanced 3% to 6.4 billion Deutschemarks ($4.2 billion). Net income was ahead 10% to 273 million marks. 47% of group turnover was generated in Europe, 31% in the USA and 22% in Asia, Australasia and Africa. Heribert Johann, chairman of BI, said this was "the best year in the history of the company." In 1995, exchange rate movements eroded revenue growth 6.5%.

The human pharmaceuticals business area was responsible for the major share of revenues, contributing 5.4 billion marks to the total, representing around 84%.