Boehringer Ingelheim inaugurates largest European biotechnology development center

The Biologicals Development Center (BDC) in Biberach an der Riß ‘significantly enhances Boehringer Ingelheim’s innovation power and biopharmaceutical development capabilities’ in the country.

The BDC has a gross floor space of 34,500 sqm, which equals five football fields.

The new facility is a highly complex building, offering modern workplaces for more than 500 employees who will develop Boehringer Ingelheim's future biopharmaceutical substances. 

Scientists from multiple disciplines and three different development units will collaborate under one roof to research and develop antibodies and therapeutic proteins. They will have the capability to produce these substances from lab-scale to supply for clinical studies.

The new facility is part of Boehringer Ingelheim’s campus in Biberach, which is the company’s largest R&D and Biopharmaceuticals site with more than 7,000 employees.

The construction of the BDC is part of Boehringer Ingelheim's strategy to make significant investments in its R&D pipeline, which amounted to €5bn ($5.5bn) in the last business year – equivalent to around 21% of total net sales. Nearly half (47%) of this investment was in Germany.

Headquartered in Ingelheim am Rhein, Boehringer Ingelheim is split into two main divisions – human pharma and animal health – alongside a smaller biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing division.

In human pharma, the company’s pipeline covers some 90 clinical and pre-clinical projects, with more than 50 of these representing new molecular entities.

Biopharmaceuticals, highlights Boehringer Ingelheim, are highly complex drugs and at the same time one of the fastest growing drug segments of the pharmaceutical industry.

“For many severe diseases with insufficient therapeutic options, highly complex biopharmaceutical molecules continue to give many patients great hope for treatment. In our new development center, we will conduct cutting-edge research at the most advanced level to achieve therapeutic breakthroughs,” said Hubertus von Baumbach, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors. “This sets a benchmark for the industry and serves as an essential addition to our global biopharmaceutical R&D network.”