Jardiance sparks Boehringer Ingelheim's 2021 growth, with more likely on the way

Amid its global push to reach more patients with SGLT2 inhibitor Jardiance, Boehringer Ingelheim reported solid sales growth for the med last year. Now, armed with two new FDA approvals in a span of six months, the German company and its U.S. partner Eli Lilly could see their Jardiance numbers grow more in 2022 and beyond.

For 2021, thanks to efforts to reach a broader set of diabetes and heart failure patients, BI recorded Jardiance sales of 3.9 billion euros ($4.3 billion), a 29% increase from the previous year. Looking forward, the drug's expansion potential remains significant.

Following up an August nod to reduce the risk for heart failure in those with reduced ejection fraction and a February green light for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, Jardiance has become the only drug cleared for the condition regardless of ejection fraction status.

Approved in 2014 to control Type 2 diabetes and then in 2016 to reduce cardiovascular death in those with Type 2, the market already was considerable for the SGLT2 inhibitor. But the heart failure blessing brings massive potential. By 2030 in the U.S. alone, there figures to be 8 million cases, BI recently told Fierce Pharma.

In the space, BI and Lilly are battling AstraZeneca’s SGLT2 Farxiga along with Merck and Bayer’s Verquvo.

Jardiance isn’t BI’s only drug that has been boosted by recent approvals. Two lung disease nods in the last three years have helped boost sales for Ofev, which won its original FDA approval in 2014 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The drug pulled in 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in 2021, an increase of 25% on the previous year.

Another plus for BI in 2021—especially in the second half—was the performance of its contract manufacturing outfit. That business grew revenues 10% to 917 million euros ($1 billion) in 2021. Of that figure, 595 million euros ($652 million) came in the final six months of the year.

The surge was sparked by the opening in October of the company’s fourth manufacturing site, a massive 700 million-euro ($768 million) facility in Vienna that employs 500.

Overall, BI’s revenue for 2021 topped the 20 billion-euro mark for the first time. Its haul of 20.62 billion euros ($22.64 billion) was a 5% increase on 2020. Sales in the company’s pharma sector were up 6% to 15.29 billion euros ($16.78 billion), while animal health revenues increased 4% to 4.29 billion euros ($4.71 billion).

As for 2022, BI projects a “slight” year-on-year increase in net sales. Over the next five years, the company expects to invest 25 billion euros in R&D. The pipeline cranked out three breakthrough designations in 2021, and the company predicts it could land up to 15 approvals by 2025.

In addition over the next five years, BI plans more than 7 billion euros for “novel production technologies and a cutting-edge supply network.” The figure includes further expansion of its biopharmaceutical production capacities.