Vision, science, passion and freedom – Men who shaped the history of Boehringer Ingelheim

What happens if a scientific employee is given freedom to think out of the box and explore new scientific avenues? Eventually he will be able to translate his research results into patient benefits by creating new medications, like Otto Thomä. The young chemist joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 1927, when the company had purchased his employer, a small chemical factory in southern Germany. During many years Otto Thomä worked on the vital substance adrenaline from which he finally managed to isolate the active ingredient isoprenaline – the first highly effective asthma product, which was launched as Aludrin^® in 1941. Thomä did not stop at this point but continued developing Aludrin^®, regardless of setbacks and difficulties. With the intuition of the inventor and the benefit of patients in mind his efforts resulted in the modern medication Alupent^® and Berotec^®, which are still in use to treat patients today.

To advance three medications from the first substances to market launch was back in those times a sign of remarkable productivity. In the case of Otto Thomä, diligence and expertise matched perfectly with the freedom to conduct long-term research given by his employer Boehringer Ingelheim.