<p><em>Boehringer Ingelheim chief says the firm will focus more on introducing oncology, diabetes, cardiovascular and central nervous system drugs in India<br><br><strong>By Joe C. Mathew</strong></em><br><br>German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim, though a late entrant to India, is among the fastest-growing drug companies in the country today. The company has ended its marketing partnership with the US drug major Eli Lilly in India to go solo with its diabetic medicines. Andreas Barner, chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, Boehringer Ingelheim, shared his company’s plans in the country with BW Businessworld. Excerpts from the interview:<br><br><strong>Given the slow growth in the global pharmaceutical market, how critical are emerging markets like India for Boehringer?</strong><br>Emerging markets now play an increasing role in our strategy. This is why we have intensified our engagements in Russia, China, India and some other markets in the past 10 years. We also see that as the economic situation in these countries improves, they are showing greater interest in innovative drugs for diabetes as well as those for treating stroke and respiratory ailments.<br><br><strong>What drives Boehringer’s growth in India?</strong><br>Our portfolio of innovative drugs including Pradaxa, Trajenta and Trajenta-Duo drive the growth. Our consumer healthcare drugs such as Dulcoflex and Buscogast also play an important role.<br><br><strong>Tell us about your partnership strategies.</strong><br>Our global marketing alliance with Eli Lilly for diabetes drugs will continue. But in India, we ended the Lilly alliance on 1 June 2015. Since then we have been exclusively commercialising our respective molecules. At the same time, we continue to evaluate our partnership options on an ongoing basis given the competitive nature of the Indian branded pharmaceutical market.<br><br><strong>How much of Boehringer’s global product portfolio is in the Indian market?</strong><br>We have introduced almost 75 per cent of our global product portfolio in India. Going forward, we plan to introduce all major products in our research and development pipeline. Our areas of therapy focus will be oncology, diabetes, cardiovascular and central nervous system. Boehringer Ingelheim India has two molecules in oncology, Afatinib and Nintedanib, which have been approved for the treatment of lung cancer globally. Afatinib is the first molecule from our pipeline which has recently been launched in India. The second molecule, Nintedanib, is currently under regulatory review and would be launched in due course. Also, our first SGLT2 inhibitor in India, Jardiance (empagliflozin), is under regulatory review and would be launched soon.<br><br><strong><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/Andreas_Barner-mdm.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; float: right; margin: 4px;">Boehringer’s Nevirapine was the first product that was challenged under India’s product patent law. Has it changed your product introduction strategy?</strong><br>For Viramune (Nevirapine), an HIV drug, Boehringer Ingelheim followed a two-sided strategy: on the one hand, we offered the drug free in poor countries to prevent mother-to-child infection as a single dose, and on the other hand, we offered non-assert declarations to the World Health Organisation (WHO) qualified drug manufacturers, allowing them to produce the drug in countries with lower costs, without paying us any royalty. With respect to tiered pricing, we are holding discussions with countries.<br><br><strong>How do you assess India’s clinical research environment?</strong><br>Boehringer Ingelheim always does its clinical trials in conformity with the legal requirements. We ensure that all patients participating in our trials sign informed consent papers. We appreciate the new Indian regulation, which also mandates making films of informed consents. Boehringer Ingelheim has its own in-house team for overseeing clinical studies in India and we still conduct trials in the country.<br><br><strong>Do you see generic firms as rivals or as entities that can co-exist with innovator firms in a litigation-free environment?</strong><br>We see a value for generic companies as they are in a good position to concentrate on cost-effective production, whereas research-driven companies play an important role in advancing medical progress. <br> <br><strong>How important is your consumer healthcare business segment? Can India be a sourcing hub or an R&D base for such products?</strong><br>Our consumer healthcare business is among the top 10 over-the-counter corporations worldwide with a growth rate above the market average (no. 1 in laxatives and antispasmodics). The increasing purchasing power in emerging markets adds to the growth. In India, we have concentrated on consumer healthcare as an independent business since 2014. We analyse our opportunities as they present themselves.<br><br><strong>What is the future of the pharmaceutical industry as we know it today? If it is biologics, how big is the potential of biosimilars?</strong><br>Research will develop new chemical and biological entities. Boehringer Ingelheim has a history of more than 25 years in biopharmaceutical development and production. Its three pillars are: own new biological entities development, development and production ‘from mind to market’ for third parties, and development of biosimilars. Given our expertise, our talented personnel and production plants of highest standards, we are in a good position to become one of the market leaders in biosimilars.<br><br><strong>How does your animal health business fit into your extreme focus on biologics in critical care therapies?</strong><br>We do have a number of products from human research and development that were slightly modified and used afterwards as animal medications, so the animal health business makes a lot of sense for us. One of the growth drivers here is, of course, our animal vaccines business, which is completely separate from human medicine development. At present, we are in the sixth position in the global animal healthcare market. In India, we have Volvac and the Calvenza range of vaccines. Critical care therapies that we offer humans mainly centre around stroke treatment. All in all, our research and development initiatives focus on respiratory, immunology, central nervous system, cancer and cardiometabolic diseases.<br><br>joe@businessworld.in<br>@joecmathew<br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 24-08-2015)</p>
