Boehringer's profit up 1.4% as Jardiance gains offset impairments

Frankfurt: German unlisted drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim said on Wednesday its operating income rose 1.4% in 2022, as more prescriptions of diabetes drug Jardiance trumped higher energy costs and the effect of write-downs on development projects.

Family-owned Boehringer said in its annual report that full-year operating income came in at 4.77 billion euros ($5.17 billion), up from 4.71 billion a year earlier.

The Jardiance group of products, managed in a partnership with Eli Lilly, had 5.8 billion euros in sales, a currency-adjusted surge of 39.1%.

The diabetes treatment is increasingly used to cut the risk of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients and it also won approval for the treatment of heart failure early in 2022.

Boehringer and Lilly said last November that Jardiance was shown to also slow the progression of chronic kidney disease, as the partners seek to catch up with market segment leader AstraZeneca with its kidney drug Farxiga.

Sales of pulmonary fibrosis drug Ofev rose a currency-adjusted 20.6% to 3.2 billion euros, Boehringer said.

For 2023, Boehringer predicted slight increase in operating income.