Corporate Magazine 2012 - Boehringer Ingelheim

iological medicines. This gives us a good basis for thedevelopment, production and marketing of biosimilars,a line of business that we entered into for the first timein 2012.Our well-filled product pipeline with promising studyoutcomes for products under development, as well assignificant sales potential, justifies our high investmentsin R&D.We will continue the comprehensive renovation and requalificationat our US subsidiary Ben Venue Laboratories,Inc. after the temporary suspension of production,and are confident of being able to solve the regulatoryproblems without a negative long-term impact on ourbusiness.We increased R&D expenses once again in 2012, therebyunderlining our strategic approach of driving growthand product supply primarily through products fromour own research and development. Here we are investingwith good judgegment and after intensive investigationof the therapeutic benefit and the associated prospectsfor success.We are convinced that our established product portfolioand the successful launch of new products will help usto strengthen and expand our position on the globalpharmaceutical market. We are anticipating a mediumsingle-digit increase in sales as against the year underreview in 2013. As this positive trend will be continuedwith further planned product launches, we are also confidentthat we will be able to further improve our salesyear-on-year in 2014.We increased R&D expenses once again in 2012, therebyunderlining our strategic approach of driving growth andproduct supply primarily through products from our ownresearch and development. We are confident that thissustainably generated organic growth will secure the basisfor our long-term success.The major challenges facing the research-driven pharmaceuticalindustry, besides patent expiry and patent infringement,are growing investments in the R&D areaand greater obstacles and raised expenditure in productregistration. One particular factor is the intensificationof cost pressure in healthcare systems, which are increasinglyunwilling to reward the high level of investmentin new drugs to an appropriate extent. Legislativeintervention in the pricing of prescription drugs is havinga negative impact on various markets.Boehringer Ingelheim will tackle these challenges in thecoming years. We are confident that we will successfullyovercome them and achieve our ambitious targets withgreat innovative strength based on a well-filled pipelineand the support of our highly qualified and motivatedemployees, who are a key factor in our success. BoehringerIngelheim’s declared aim remains to continue to developthe company competitively and successfully as an independent,family-owned enterprise. For us, long-term andsustainable organic growth still takes precedence overshort-term profit targets. We will also continue to standby our vision “Value through Innovation”, researchingand developing innovations that offer medical benefitsand bringing them to the market with the aim of providingpatients with the best treatments possible.38Boehringer Ingelheim annual report 2012