Boehringer Ingelheim has maintained its successful course once again in 2006, growing faster than the pharmaceutical market for the seventh successive year. Its net sales grew by 11 per cent to Euro10.6 billion from Euro 9.5 billion in the previous year. Operating income, comparable to EBIT, also improved by 11 per cent to more than Euro 2.1 billion (2005: Euro 1.9 billion). The number of employees worldwide rose by some 1,000 to more than 38,400, for 2007.

Dr Alessandro Banchi, chairman of the board of managing directors of Boehringer Ingelheim, said that 2006 was "again an excellent year" for the company. In spite of generic competition for Mobic, Boehringer Ingelheim's high turnover anti-rheumatic, in the USA and for Mobic and Alna/Pradif in Europe, the company grew faster than the market average, which, according to analyses by the healthcare information provider IMS, increased by 6 per cent.

With a market share of almost 2 per cent, Boehringer Ingelheim ranks 15th among the international pharmaceutical companies.

The positive sales development was also reflected in the company`s results. Operating margin (operating income as a percentage of sales) matched the excellent year-ago figure of 20.2 per cent. Income after tax was Euro 1.7 billion , corresponding to an increase of 14 per cent over the previous year.

The growth drivers in 2006 were again the company`s branded prescription medicines. In addition to the top product Spiriva (tiotropium bromide), the worldwide leading medication for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sales of which rose by 45 per cent o almost 1.4 billion euros, both Micardis (telmisartan), an angiotensin-II-receptor blocker for the treatment of essential hypertension, which grew 34 per cent million euros, and Alna, Flomax, Pradif (tamsulosin), for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, up 28 per cent at 922 million euros, also showed healthy development.

All three products are so-called blockbusters, that is drugs whose annual sales top one billion US dollars. Boehringer Ingelheim sees the healthy development of its products as confirmation of the company`s objective of making innovative drugs available for patients.

"We are very proud that our medications are accepted by patients and help them to treat their illnesses effectively and to lead a better life," commented Dr Banchi. The acceptance of Boehringer Ingelheim products by both physicians and patients is the basis of the company's success.

Once again last year, the Americas was the company's region with the highest sales. It generated net sales totalling 5.4 billion euros (2005: 4.6 billion euros), equivalent to over 50 per cent of global sales. The USA alone contributed 4.5 billion euros, with strong growth of almost 20 per cent. With 3.3 billion euros, Europe achieved almost 6 per cent growth.

Business in Germany stagnated at about 820 million euros, due to generic competition for Alna and pharma-political impacts, while business in Asia, Australasia, Africa (AAA) remained essentially on the year-ago level, primarily due to currency effects. However, in constant currency terms, Japan, the country posting the highest sales in the AAA region, grew by 15 per cent in the Prescription Medicines segment. In 2006, for the second year running, Boehringer Ingelheim Japan was the international company with the highest growth rate in this segment.

In 2006, almost 1.6 billion euros were invested in research, development and Medicine, 16 per cent more than in the previous year. Research expenditure in Prescription Medicines accounted for about 18 per cent of sales in this business area.

New product launches and approvals are pending. In 2007, the Respimat Soft Mist Inhaler, a propellant-free metered dose inhaler that generates a fine mist, is expected to be launched with the top product Spiriva in the first markets. Registration has been filed in Europe for dabigatran, for the prevention of thromboembolic events. Four important, large-scale clinical studies on dabigatran, Spiriva, Micardis and Aggrenox, including about 90.000 patients, are nearing completion, with the first results expected in 2008.