Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim looking to Spiriva as growth driver

As briefly mentioned in last week's Marketletter, Germany's BoehringerIngelheim has posted net income of 379 million euros ($338.2 million) for 2000, an 18% increase over the previous year and operating profit of 800 million euros. Net sales totalled 6.19 billion euros, an increase of almost 22%, though the company acknowledged that half of that increase was due to favorable currency exchange.

Human pharmaceutical turnover was also up 22% to 5.89 billion euros, with prescription medicines accounting for 77% of that figure. Speaking at the firm's annual press conference in Ingelheim, chairman Rolf Krebs noted that products launched in the last five years made up 31% of sales, and highlighted the performance of Combivent (ipratropium bromide/albuterol) for chronic obstructive disease of the respiratory tract, the HIV therapy Viramune (nevirapine), Flomax/Alna (tamsulosin) for benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is jointly marketed with Yamanouchi, and the antiarthritic Mobic (meloxicam), which is being copromoted with Abbott Laboratories (see product table on page 25).

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