Sales Well Up And Solid Growth At Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim, the German pharmaceutical company, has announcedfirst-half 1997 sales of 3.97 billion Deutschemarks ($2.18 billion), up 16% from last year, with its core human phamaceutical business generating revenues of nearly 3.4 billion marks, an increase of 17%.

The company says that the growth rate was due principally to successful product launches, most notably its treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, Mobic (meloxicam) as well as Combivent (ipratropium bromide/salbutamol) for the treatment of bronchitis. Prescription products accounted for 2.8 billion marks, up 15%, while over-the-counter medicine sales rose by 26% to 508 million marks. It was also pointed out that the number of employees worldwide was up 4% over the comparable half-year total last year.

Heribert Johann, chairman of the board of managing directors, said that sales for the full year are now expected to top 8 billion marks, which would mean an increase of nearly 13% on figures for the year ended 1996, although he added that attainment of this goal depended on a continuation of the current favorable trend in exchange rates and positive volume growth.