Landmark medical events

Landmarks in Boehringer Ingelheim UK's history

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Parkinson's disease was described by James Parkinson.

Christian Friedrich Boehringer started a "family" chemical business in Stuttgart, Germany.

Christian Friedrich Boehringer

The first successful appendectomy was performed by William Grant.

Albert Boehringer, Christian's grandson bought his own chemical factory in Ingelheim, Germany, where he manufactured tartaric acid salts used by pharmacies and dyeing works. Demand for his product surged, as fizzy lemonade and baking powder became popular.

Company founder - Albert Boehringer

Wilhelm Röntgen discovers a type radiation later known as x-ray.

Albert made a breakthrough. He discovered that he could use bacteria to produce lactic acid in commercial quantities and became a pioneer of large-scale 'biotech' production.

K Landsteiner identified the 4 main blood groups.

Boehringer Ingelheim continued to grow, moving into pharmaceuticals, starting with pain relief, then developing cardiovascular and bile products.

View of the Company in 1908

Boehringer employees in 1910

In the UK, the Cancer Act made it a duty of local authorities to make arrangements for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Albert died and the business was taken over by his two sons, Albert and Ernst and his son-in-law Julius Liebrecht. Research and development continued throughout the Second World War but the production of organic acids was discontinued temporarily.

Testing purity of lactic acid in 1920s

Product packaging in 1947

The corticosteroid prenisalone was developed.

The general economic boom resulted in a dramatic increase in the workforce. New and highly effective drugs were introduced, which formed the basis of the established pillars of Boehringer Ingelheim's research programs: agents for the treatment of respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.

Boehringer Ingelheim established a presence in the UK, through a licensing arrangement with pharmaceutical company Pfizer. A field force was developed to establish a sales base and a range of products were introduced.

Clarence Lillehie and Earl Bakk invented the internal pacemaker.

Boehringer Products division began operation. 72 sales representatives began working in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

James Watson, Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick won a Nobel Prize for determining the structure of DNA.

Parting from Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd, was created as the UK product range and turnover continued to grow.

New head office in 1962

The first invitro fertilization of a human egg was performed.

Our staff increased to 115, although we were still essentially a marketing organisation.

Cedar - 75th anniversary gift from Pfizer

Prozac was developed by Bryan Malloy and Klaus Schmiegel.

Distribution and warehousing became an integral part of the company, bringing about an important change in the service we offered to customers. We were on the move.

1972 - office and warehouse construction in Bracknell

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, the technology behind MRI scanning was developed.

We moved into our new headquarters in Bracknell, Berkshire. With 18 products on our list, increased from 6, when the company first started.

1973 - office and warehouse completed

Giorgio Fischer, a gynecologist from Rome, Italy, invented liposuction.

Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd acquired WB Pharmaceutical Ltd, which gave a second UK field force and broadened the product range. Its subsidiary Harker Stagg Ltd also provided us with a UK manufacturing unit.

Legionella pneumophilia was identified as the cause of legionnaires disease.

The combined companies employed 432 people.

Balloon angioplasty was developed to treat coronary artery disease.

We appointed our first veterinary surgeon and established the Animal Health division.

Philadelphia's Wistar Institute developed a less painful rabies vaccine.

All production was transferred to the newly opened factory on the Bracknell site.

AIDS was first identified.

We recruited our first permanent staff for the packing and manufacturing floors.

Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein won a Nobel Prize for their work with cholesterol.

WB Pharmaceuticals Ltd was integrated into the Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd Ethical Division.

Vetmedica's product range - 1990's

Bracknell site refurbished - 1990s

Considered to be the first break through in over a decade of AIDS research, HIV protease inhibitors were introduced.

Combivent was introduced.

Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel won a Nobel Prize for discoveries about how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells.

Mobic was introduced.

The FDA approved the male impotence drug Viagra.

Asasantin Retard and Viramune were introduced.

The human genome was deciphered; expected to revolutionize the practice of medicine.

Micardis and Vetmedin were introduced.

Surgeons in Louisville successfully implanted an artificial heart into a man.

£14 million was spent improving the site in Bracknell and the number of employees grew to 750.

Metalyse was introduced.

Virtual ultrasound was invented to allow 'parents to be' to see 3D images of their developing child.

Spirivia was introduced together with Pfizer.

The Duke of York visited us to celebrate 40 years of being in the UK.

Antistax was introduced.

2002 - Duke of York visited head office

The first scientific evidence was unveiled showing that a new 'vaccine' against cocaine addiction could help users to quit by preventing them from getting high.

Yentreve was introduced together with Lilly.

Mirapexin became available from Boehringer Ingelheim UK.

Our number of employees has grown to approximately 1000 and we have introduced our second product with Lilly, Cymbalta.