Annual Report 2005 - Boehringer Ingelheim

Laboratory assistants at our Quality & Compliance Department,
Biopharmaceutical Manufacture, Biberach, Germany, undertake
visual assessment of biotechnically produced proteins using gel
electrophoresis.
Today, we carry out drug discovery in seven
major therapeutic areas allocated to four major
R&D sites. Our R&D sites maintain strong
responsibility and accountability for their thera-
peutic areas locally and deploy their innovation
and flexibility. International scientific reviews
and portfolio management ensure a sustainable,
competitive and risk-balanced discovery portfo-
lio. To further strengthen our R&D organisation
we have international skill centres to improve
efficiency and to secure equal access to state-of-
the-art technologies and informatics platforms
for all sites. In Biberach, Germany, our largest
R&D centre, we concentrate on diseases of the
central nervous system (CNS), metabolic diseases
and respiratory diseases. Biberach is supported
by our chemistry laboratories in Milan, Italy.
Drug discovery in immunology & inflammation
and cardiovascular diseases is carried out in
Ridgefield, USA. Further fully-fledged drug
discovery centres are located in Laval, Canada,
carrying out research in virology, and in Vienna,
doing research in oncology. In Kawanishi, Japan,
we have an additional centre in molecular cell
biology, specialised in membrane receptor targets.
Our non-clinical drug development activities are
concentrated in Europe and North America at
the sites Biberach and Ingelheim, Germany,
and Ridgefield, USA. Biberach and Ridgefield are
conducting the full range of non-clinical devel-
opment work packages including activities for
chemistry, manufacturing and control (CMC)
as well as relevant pharmacokinetic and safety
studies.
At these sites, pharmaceutical development is
focused on conventional dosage forms, whereas
Ingelheim represents our centre of competence
for developing all inhalative dosage forms.
Boehringer Ingelheim has a particular focus on
the development of innovative inhalation devices.
handihaler® and respimat® Soft Mist Inhaler
offer us a very competitive platform in inhalation
therapy and meet the challenges of drug develop-
ment in a variety of indications. Added support
on drug formulations and manufacturing clinical
trial supplies is provided by our sites in Kawa-
nishi and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our coopera-
tions with biotech and academic groups provide
another key string to Boehringer Ingelheim’s
bow in finding and developing innovative medi-
cines. A good example is the strategic research
collaboration initiated between our Biberach and
Ridgefield centres and Evotec OAI that enabled
us to establish a novel research platform for
elucidating innovative receptor-based drugs. This
collaboration started on receptor targets involved
in CNS diseases but now also addresses targets
of potential interest in other therapeutic areas,
such as metabolic and immunological diseases.
The bridge between our R&D people and
academia is reinforced by the strong link to
the renowned Research Institute of Molecular
Pathology (IMP) which we fund in Vienna.
Our strength in R&D+Medicine