Boehringer looks to biotech for "targeted acquisitions"

Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim is planning to bring out the check book as it scours everything from early-stage biotechs to developers with marketed products for "targeted acquisitions" that can help the pharma company make up for the revenue being lost to new generic competitors.

Boehringer appears eager to build on recent deals to acquire animal health assets from Pfizer and a Japanese OTC drug company. Biotechnology and start-ups are two key focus areas for new acquisitions, according to the company. In its annual review today the company's chairman also laid out plans to beef up its R&D budget as it pursues additional in-house product development. Boehringer's profitability jumped to $2.37 billion last year.

"If we see the possibility in a specific case to expand our portfolio in a sensible way, whether it's in very early drug development or as in the animal health example with market- leading products, we'll certainly increase individual areas of the business through targeted acquisitions," said Chairman Andreas Barner.

- here's the story from Bloomberg