Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation Remains Bullish on R&D and India

Boehringer Ingelheim's research driven business model is worth emulating by the Indian pharma companies. The 13.2 billion euro German drug company has one of the highest R&D spends (24% of the revenues) among the large pharma companies of the world. Globally spends on R&D are being cut down by the innovator companies amidst challenging environment involving issues around patients, clinical trials and the general tilt towards generics. Despite this, the family-owned innovative pharma company remains bullish on R&D. The company has a strong pipeline of 10 research products in phase III trials. "One of the benefits of being privately-held is that the promoter family thinks in generations and not in quarterly reports. This gives our R&D colleagues the opportunity to take some more time for careful planning. This, along with a bit of luck, gives us the privilege of a well-filled pipeline," says Dr Andreas Barner, chairman of the company, in an interview with ET.