Boehringer spends €100 million on inhaler
pharmafile | September 30, 2014 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | Boehringer, Germany, Spiriva, Striverdi, inhaler, olodaterol, respimat
Boehringer Ingelheim is to spend more than €100 million at its Dortmund site in Germany in order to expand the production capacity of its inhaler product Respimat.
The company says it is creating around 100 new jobs with the move which will see the German pharma giant ratchet up units of Respimat to 44 million per year.
The resource boost will also be welcome news to some, as the company only announced last week it was slashing 600 jobs in the country as part of a drive to reduce costs by €450 million ($580 million).
The firm’s soft mist inhaler spray device delivers a long-acting muscle-relaxant that aims to open long-term COPD and asthma sufferers’ airways – using a once-daily application of Boehringer’s range of respiratory treatments.
Delivered via the device will be Striverdi Respimat (olodaterol) that was approved by the FDA in August, and now the German firm is clearly keen to see it have a large presence in the marketplace with this latest move.
“The Respimat is a success story – for Boehringer Ingelheim and for the patients,” explains Dr Wolfgang Baiker who is a member of the board of managing directors at the firm. “We want to continue this success story. The Respimat inhaler will also in future be the inhalation device for applying our respiratory medications.”
In September 2004 the firm acquired the microtechnology company STEAG microParts and integrated it into the group. Now the company says it has more than 550 employees working at Boehringer Ingelheim microParts in Dortmund where the inhaler is produced.
Boehringer is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials in the US with a variety of its products for the inhaler, such as Spiriva and Combivent. The Respimat device is a newer and alternative method of dosage delivery in comparison to MDIs (Metered Dose Inhalers) or DPIs (Dry Powder Inhalers).
Spiriva (tiotropium) Respimat has just been granted a licence in the UK for the treatment of adult asthma patients who are still experiencing symptoms despite usual care.
Brett Wells
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