Boehringer Ingelheim has posted net sales of €6.4 billion in the first six months of 2011 resulting in a 4% growth when compared to the same period the year before.

Sales were boosted by the new launches of the anticoagulant Pradaxa and diabetes treatments Twynsta and Tradjenta which accounted for 60% of revenue.

Professor Andreas Barner, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, says Boehringer’s Value through Innovation vision “proves itself sustainably as the basis of our company.”

Overall, prescription medicines net sales amassed €4.9 billion in the first half of 2011 and turnover of the Consumer Healthcare Business was up 11% to €667 million.

Following strong sales in emerging markets, the company’s Human Pharmaceuticals’ net sales increased by 12% to €890 million.

“For Boehringer Ingelheim the first half of business year 2011 is characterised in turnover terms by successful new launches,” said Hubertus von Baumbach, Member of the Board of Managing Directors responsible for Finance.

“A good earnings position overall has enabled us to activate again higher investment in research and development, even though further burdensome interventions by the legislators in price-setting for prescription medicines have had a negative effect.”

Pradaxa, a novel, direct thrombin inhibitor was approved across Europe for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Outside of the EU, it has already been granted approval in the USA, Canada, Japan and other countries on four continents.

Professor Barner also added that several new substances from the company’s own research and development had made further progress and a number of new biological and chemical active ingredients were transferred from the preclinical stage to clinical development.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) has become the first treatment in more than 50 years to be approved in Europe for the prevention of atrial fibrillation-related (AF) strokes.

The breakthrough oral anticoagulant has had its label extended in the EU for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism (SSE) based on results from the RE-LY study.

Professor Andreas Barner, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors at Boehringer, says Pradaxa’s approval is an “important milestone” after two decades of R&D.

Pradaxa was initially granted EU approval in 2008 for the prevention of blood clots in adults who have undergone elective total hip or knee replacement surgery.

People with AF are five-times more likely to suffer a stroke, resulting in up to three million individuals suffering strokes each year through the world.

More than 18,000 AF patients conducted in the RE-LY study. The 150mg dose – recommended for the majority of patients – was shown to reduce the risk of SSE by 35%, while also significantly reducing the risk of life-threatening and intracranial bleeding, compared to well-controlled warfarin.

The 110mg – specifically available for elderly patients aged 80 years or above – was shown to be non-inferior to warfarin in reducing the risk of SSE with a significantly lower rate of bleeding.

Professor Gregory Lip, Consultant Cardiologist & Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Birmingham Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, says Pradaxa’s approval in Europe is a “major advance” to treat the condition.

“For the past 50 years physicians worldwide have been waiting for an alternative to vitamin K antagonist therapies, such as long time standard of care, warfarin,” he said.

Pradaxa has already been approved for the prevention of stroke in AF in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and several other countries.