Drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development take about 12 - 15 years and including failures an investment of in average US$ 1 billion. Every year, Boehringer Ingelheim invests more than 20% of its net sales in Prescription Medicines into research and development. The phases in the process from idea to patient are:

• Basic research and exploratory research
• Research (with target identification, target validation, lead identification, lead optimisation, pre-development )
• Development (with preclinical development, clinical research phases I, II and III)
• Registration (with regulatory approval and phase IV/Life Cycle Management)

Over the past few years we have seen fast-paced developments in the opportunities to explore human genomic codes and its relation to diseases. Knowledge about the genetic structure and principles of the human body opens the door for the identification of new targets for innovative therapies.

Genetic research and modification are understood as opportunities to develop therapies to fight diseases that are so far only hardly treatable or untreatable. Carefully and respectfully approaching these opportunities, Boehringer Ingelheim is interested in research and development in gene therapy.

We encourage genetic research, because we believe that all avenues of progress towards better human and animal health deserve to be explored.

However, we recognise the concerns over the possible long-term consequences of genetic modification and cloning. We are guided by extreme caution in these new and explorative research areas. We strongly adhere to our philosophy that no irreversible modification should be done until is proven to be safe.

Boehringer Ingelheim has a general policy of transparency with publications of clinical trial results. We recognize that there are important public health benefits associated with making clinical trial information more widely available to healthcare professionals and patients. Such disclosure, however, must maintain protections for intellectual property and contract rights as well as conform to the regulations in relevant countries.

Boehringer Ingelheim supports the joint global position of the research-based pharmaceutical industry published by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) on 06 January 2005, updated on 18 November 2008, and is committed to the agreed principles.
The disclosure process is based upon the requirements outlined in the global industry position paper of the IFPMA, the requirements by the United States Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA), and the United States state of Maine law regarding the Reporting Requirements for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Labelers for approved products marketed in the state of Maine.