Boehringer Ingelheim invests in US operations
Will build a $65m r&d facility in Ridgefield, Connecticut
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals is investing US$65m in a 72,000ft2 research and development facility at its US headquarters in Ridgefield, Connecticut to handle production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in early development activities. Products developed here, if approved, then move to full-scale r&d sites in Ohio, Virginia, Germany and Italy.
The Germany headquartered firm says it has invested more than US$350m in its US operations this year to boost its drug discovery, development and manufacturing capabilities. These include a $42m investment in a new drug safety assessment building in Ridgefield, announced in August, which is scheduled for completion in 2013 and will provide space for non-clinical safety studies.
‘These are exciting projects; ones that increase Boehringer Ingelheim's research and development capabilities and reinforce our commitment to growth and innovation in the US,’ said J. Martin Carroll, president and ceo of Boehringer Ingelheim’s US operations.
Also in the summer, the company's US animal health business, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, dedicated its new $89m vaccine research facility in Sioux Center, Iowa, one of three special vaccine research buildings it will build there. The company also announced a $100m expansion of its biological manufacturing facility in St. Joseph's, Missouri.
In September, Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane, opened a new $50m High Containment Operations facility in Columbus, Ohio to meet growing demand for high potency and oncology products. The building uses state-of-the-art technology to develop and manufacture differentiated high potency oral solid tablets and capsules in support of Roxane Laboratories' rapidly growing multisource business.
In addition to these investments, Boehringer Ingelheim gained a presence on the West Coast with the acquisition in March of Boehringer Ingelheim Fremont. The facility, acquired from Amgen, manufactures biologics, and consists of more than 300,000ft2 for laboratories, manufacturing and process development suitable for clinical and market supplies.
In 2010, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of around $16.7bn, spending almost 24% of this in r&d into prescription medicines, which is its largest business segment.
