Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Celebrates 25 Years of Business

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (September 19, 2006) –Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) is celebrating 25 years of business in the United States animal health market. A leading animal health company, BIVI has had many successes in the past and remains committed to the future in providing innovative animal health products to customers.
Ranked in the top ten animal health product manufacturers in the United States and part of the Boehringer Ingelheim global animal health business, BIVI manufactures and markets an extensive line of high quality biological and pharmaceutical products for cattle, swine, horses and pets for a worldwide network and plans to invest more in research and development over the next five years. According to George Heidgerken, BIVI president and chief operating officer, commitment is much more than just selling a product.
“This silver anniversary milestone presents the opportunity to celebrate our great contributions to the animal health industry, and to honor the dedicated people who are the backbone of our company,” he said. “Our quality, in addition to maintaining the ability to change and grow with the demands of the industry, has been very important in facilitating value through innovation.”
The BIVI St. Joseph campus hosted a week full of anniversary celebration events during the week of September 11. Monday included an employee meeting with presentations, Tuesday BIVI employees learned about the local Missouri FFA chapters and the FFA students learned about potential career paths within the animal health industry. On Wednesday, September 13, 25 local dignitaries and media representatives toured the St. Joseph campus with an in-depth look at the state-of-the-art packaging facility. And the event finale on Saturday, September 16, includes a sky diving team, local 4-H demonstrations, National Disaster Search Dog foundation, local entertainers of magic, juggling, stilt walking and a huge fireworks display to end the events.
The St. Joseph research facilities have a long tradition in animal health products. In 1981, Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation purchased the Anchor Serum Company, which was later renamed Philips Roxane, Inc., and then became the foundation of what is today Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. BIVI has become the world’s largest provider of swine biological products during that time, and the animal health business has been the fastest growing of any pharmaceutical company in the world the last two years.
The St. Joseph campus added a state-of-the-art biological manufacturing facility, a research and development complex and new centralized warehousing facilities. BIVI employs about 700 people across the country.
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (St. Joseph, Mo.), is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation based in Ridgefield, Conn., and a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 143 affiliates in 47 countries and approximately 37,500 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2005, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of US $11.8 billion (9.5 billion euro) while spending approximately one fifth of net sales in its largest business segment, Prescription Medicines, on research and development.