The German biopharma company on Tuesday announced ambitious pipeline plans that include starting 10 new Phase II and III trials over the next 12 to 18 months.
Boehringer Ingelheim announced an ambitious pipeline strategy Tuesday in its 2023 earnings release with the goal of launching 25 new treatments by 2030.
Under the plan, the German biopharma intends to start 10 new Phase II and Phase III trials over the next 12 to 18 months. The company said that its late-stage portfolio has “accelerated significantly” in the oncology sector along with mental health, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases. In 2023, the FDA granted the company five fast-track designations and one breakthrough therapy designation.
Boehringer on Tuesday highlighted several candidates that have been showing promise, including the MDM2-p53 agonist Brigimadlin which has moved into a “key trial” for treating dedifferentiated liposarcoma. The company also noted the development of the investigational HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor zongertinib, which has been accelerated as Boehringer reported positive early data.
In February 2024, Boehringer‘s glucagon/GLP-1 candidate survodutide showed encouraging results in treating liver disease due to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, with 83% of patients seeing biopsy-proven improvement without the worsening of fibrosis stages. The candidate has also moved into Phase III trials for obesity.
“I am excited to see how balanced and healthy our pipeline looks today,” Hubertus von Baumbach, chairman of the board of managing directors at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in a statement. “We are determined to accelerate the development of our range of new treatments and make them available to patients in the best and fastest ways. In doing so, it is our mission to not only help patients but also to help make healthcare systems fairer and better.”
However, the pharma’s focus on its later-stage pipeline comes as sales of its Humira biosimilar Cyltezo have not been positive in the U.S. According to Reuters, the biopharma laid off staff due to slow sales as AbbVie has continued to successfully fend off competition from Humira biosimilars for now.
Nonetheless, Boehringer reported a 9.7% boost in net sales for 2023, thanks in part to sales of its diabetes and heart failure treatment Jardiance and the pulmonary fibrosis treatment Ofev.
The company said that its 2023 group net sales rose to €25.6 billion ($27.2 billion), spearheaded by 10.3% growth in the human pharma sector. Jardiance sales grew 31% to €7.4 billion ($7.8 billion), while Ofev sales increased by 12.8%, bringing in €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion).
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
