Bayer

Bayer AG is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen (today a part of Wuppertal), Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin. Bayer's primary areas of business include human and veterinary pharmaceuticals; consumer healthcare products; agricultural chemicals and biotechnology products; and high value polymers. The company was 150 years old on 1 August 2013.

History
Bayer AG was founded in Barmen (today a part of Wuppertal), Germany in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and his partner, Johann Friedrich Weskott.

Bayer's first major product was acetylsalicylic acid (originally discovered by French chemist Charles Frederic Gerhardt in 1853), a modification of salicylic acid or salicin, a folk remedy found in the bark of the willow plant. By 1899, Bayer's trademark Aspirin was registered worldwide for Bayer's brand of acetylsalicylic acid, but because of the confiscation of Bayer's US assets and trademarks during World War I by the United States – and the subsequent widespread usage of the word to describe all brands of the compound —, "Aspirin" lost its trademark status in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. It is now widely used in the US, UK, and France for all brands of the drug. However in over 80 other countries, such as Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Switzerland, it is still a registered trademark of Bayer.

In 1904, the Bayer company introduced the Bayer cross as its corporate logo. Because Bayer's aspirin was sold through pharmacists and doctors only, and the company could not put its own packaging on the drug, the Bayer cross was imprinted on the actual tablets, so that customers would associate Bayer with its aspirin.

World War I and II
As part of the reparations after World War I, Bayer assets, including the rights to its name and trademarks, were confiscated in the United States, Canada, and several other countries. In the United States and Canada, Bayer's assets and trademarks were acquired by Sterling Drug, a predecessor of Sterling Winthrop.

The Bayer company then became part of IG Farben, a German chemical company conglomerate. In the 1930s, Bayer scientists  Gerhard Domagk, Fritz Mietzsch, and Joseph Klarer, discovered Prontosil, the first commercially available antibacterial drug. The discovery and development of this first sulfonamide drug opened a new era in medicine. Domagk received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work in 1939.

During World War II, the IG Farben used slave labor in factories attached to large slave labor camps, notably I.G. Auschwitz, and the sub-camps of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. During this period Bayer engaged in human experimentation on Auschwitz prisoners, often with fatal results. After World War II, the Allies broke up IG Farben and Bayer reappeared as an individual business. The Bayer executive Fritz ter Meer, sentenced to seven years in prison during the IG Farben Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, was made head of the supervisory board of Bayer in 1956, after his release.

Acquisitions and partnerships
In 1978, Bayer purchased Miles Laboratories and its subsidiaries Miles Canada and Cutter Laboratories (along with a product line including Alka-Seltzer, Flintstones vitamins and One-A-Day vitamins, and Cutter insect repellent).

In 1994, Bayer AG purchased Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter drug business from SmithKline Beecham and merged it with Miles Laboratories, thereby reacquiring the U.S. and Canadian trademark rights to "Bayer" and the Bayer cross, as well as the ownership of the Aspirin trademark in Canada.

On 2 November 2010, Bayer AG signed an agreement to buy Auckland-based animal health company Bomac Group.

Bayer partnered on the development of the radiotherapeutic Xofigo with Algeta, and in 2014 moved to acquire the company for about US$3 billion.

In 2014 Bayer agreed to buy Merck's consumer health business for $14.2 billion which would give Bayer control over popular household brands such as Claritin, Coppertone and Dr. Scholl's. The pharmaceutical company would also seize the No. 2 spot in the world for nonprescription drugs.

Discoveries by Bayer
Bayer has discovered, among others:
 * Aspirin, an analgesic, antipyretic, and anticoagulant medicine, arguably was the most commercially successful drug ever.
 * Heroin (diacetylmorphine), a now illegal addictive drug, was originally sold as a substitute for morphine. Heroin was a Bayer trademark, until World War I.
 * Prontosil, the first sulfonamide.
 * Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic used to treat anthrax and urinary tract infections.
 * Levitra, a treatment for erectile dysfunction.
 * Polyurethane, a very versatile polymer used for a wide variety of applications
 * Polycarbonate, a thermoplastic used in electronics, data storage, and construction (Makrolon).
 * Suramin
 * Parathion, insecticide
 * Propoxur, insecticide
 * Primodos, hormone pregnancy testing

Logo
The company's corporate logo, the Bayer cross, was introduced in 1904. It consists of the horizontal word "BAYER" crossed with the vertical word "BAYER", both words sharing the "Y", and enclosed in a circle. An illuminated version of the logo lights up the skyline of Leverkusen, where Bayer is headquartered. Installed in 1958, this is the largest illuminated advertisement in the world.

Operations
To separate operational and strategic managements, Bayer AG was reorganized into a holding company in December 2003. The group's core businesses were transformed into limited companies, each controlled by Bayer AG. These companies are: Bayer CropScience AG; Bayer HealthCare AG; Bayer MaterialScience AG and Bayer Chemicals AG, and the three service limited companies Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Bayer Business Services GmbH and Bayer Industry Services GmbH & Co. OHG. Bayer AG shares are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and previously on the New York Stock Exchange.

Following the reorganization, its chemicals activities (with the exception of H.C. Starck and Wolff Walsrode) were combined with certain components of the polymers segment to form the new company Lanxess on 1 July 2004. Lanxess was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in early 2005. Bayer HealthCare's Diagnostics Division was acquired by Siemens Medical Solutions in January 2007.

In 2004, Bayer HealthCare AG acquired the over-the-counter (OTC) Pharmaceutical Division of Roche Pharmaceuticals.

On 13 March 2006, Merck KGaA announced a €14.6bn bid for Schering AG. Merck's takeover bid was surpassed by Bayer's $19.5bn bid on 23 March 2006.

On 11 March 2008, Bayer HealthCare announced an agreement to acquire the portfolio and OTC division of privately owned Sagmel, Inc., a US-based company that markets OTC medications in most of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and others.

Locations

 * Germany – headquarters of the holding company, as well as the subsidiary companies Bayer CropScience, Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer HealthCare
 * Belgium – including production facilities for Makrolon and polyurethanes (in Antwerp)
 * Canada – Toronto headquarters and offices in Montreal and Calgary
 * Finland – Nordic Headquarters in Espoo including one of the largest Bayer research facilities and production facility in Turku
 * France – including European headquarters of Bayer CropScience (in Lyon)
 * Indonesia – including production of Canesten, Autan and Baygon
 * Italy – including five production facilities
 * The Netherlands – including eight facilities and subsidiaries with 600 employees in three different sectors; Marketing and Sales, Production and Research.
 * United States – Bayer USA (Bayer Corporation) operates a suburban Pittsburgh regional corporate headquarters and research center
 * United Kingdom – Newbury, Berkshire
 * Spain - Asturias produce the acetylsalicylic acid.


 * Australia
 * Argentina
 * Aruba
 * Bahamas
 * Barbados
 * Bolivia
 * Brazil
 * Cambodia
 * Chile
 * China
 * Colombia
 * Costa Rica
 * Cuba
 * Curaçao
 * Dominican Republic
 * Ecuador
 * El Salvador


 * Finland
 * Guatemala
 * Honduras
 * Hong Kong SAR
 * Hungary
 * India
 * Israel
 * Jamaica
 * Japan
 * Jordan
 * Kazakhstan
 * Laos
 * Mexico
 * Myanmar
 * New Zealand
 * Nicaragua
 * Pakistan
 * Paraguay
 * Peru
 * Philippines


 * Panama
 * Poland
 * Serbia
 * Singapore
 * South Africa
 * South Korea
 * Switzerland
 * Taiwan
 * Thailand
 * Trinidad and Tobago
 * Turkey
 * United Kingdom
 * Uruguay
 * Venezuela
 * Vietnam

Corporate structure
Bayer AG comprises three subgroups and three services companies. The subgroups and service companies operate independently, led by the management holding company.

Bayer CropScience
Bayer CropScience has products in crop protection and nonagricultural pest control. It also has activities in seeds and plant traits.

In 2002, Bayer AG acquired Aventis (now part of Sanofi) CropScience and fused it with their own agrochemicals division (Bayer Pflanzenschutz or "Crop Protection") to form Bayer CropScience. The company is now one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection (i.e. pesticides), nonagricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. In addition to conventional agrochemical business, it is involved in genetic engineering of food. The Belgian biotech company Plant Genetic Systems became part of the company by the acquisition of Aventis CropScience.

Bayer Bioscience is a research center which is a component of Bayer CropScience.

Also in 2002, Bayer AG acquired the Dutch seed company Nunhems.

In 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Bayer CropScience's LibertyLink genetically modified rice had contaminated the U.S. rice supply. Shortly after the public learned of the contamination, the E.U. banned imports of U.S. long-grain rice and the futures price plunged. In April 2010, a Lonoke County, Arkansas jury awarded a dozen farmers $48 million. The case is currently on appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court. On 1 July 2011 Bayer CropScience agreed to a global settlement for up to $750 million. In a statement to the media Bayer said: "Although Bayer CropScience believes it acted responsibly in the handling of its biotech rice, the company considers it important to resolve the litigation so that it can move forward focused on its fundamental mission of providing innovative solutions to modern agriculture."

Bayer CropScience is involved in a joint project with Archer Daniels Midland Company and Daimler AG to develop jatropha as a biofuel.

In September 2014, the firm announced plans to invest $1 billion in the United States between 2013 and 2016.

Bayer BioScience
Bayer BioScience, headquartered in Hyderabad, India has about 400 employees, and has research, production and an extensive sales network spread across India.

Bayer HealthCare
Bayer HealthCare is Bayer's pharmaceutical and medical products subgroup. It is involved in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of products that aim to improve the health of people and animals. Bayer HealthCare comprises a further four subdivisions: Bayer Schering Pharma, Bayer Consumer Care, Bayer Animal Health and Bayer Medical Care.

Bayer Pharma
In 2007, Bayer took over Schering AG and formed Bayer Schering Pharma. The acquisition of Schering was the largest take-over in Bayer's history. The name was changed to Bayer Pharma in 2011.

Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals is divided into two business units – General Medicine and Specialty Medicine.

Women's healthcare is an example of a General Medicine business unit. Bayer Pharma produces the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin. Both pills use a newer type of progesterone hormone called drospirenone in combination with estrogen. Yaz is advertised as a treatment for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and moderate acne. Other key products include the cancer drug Nexavar, the multiple sclerosis drug betaferon/betaseron and the blood-clotting drug, Kogenate.

An example of a Specialty Medicine Business Unit is Diagnostic Imaging. Contrast agents from this unit helps play a crucial role in precise and early diagnosis and the selection of optimal treatment. Diagnostic imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound are used to make tissues and organs visible in their natural position inside the body along with contrast. Work is also focused on the development of tracers for positron emission tomography (PET). The PET tracer florbetaben F18 in Bayer's pipeline makes it possible to recognize beta amyloid, one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, with high accuracy very early on and while the patient is still alive.

Bayer Consumer Care
Bayer Consumer Care manages Bayer's OTC medicines portfolio. Key products include analgesics such as Bayer Aspirin and Aleve, food supplements Redoxon and Berocca, and skincare products Bepanthen and Bepanthol.

In May 2014 it was announced that Bayer would buy Merck & Co's consumer health care unit for $14.2 billion.

Bayer Animal Health
Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health Division is the maker of Advantage Multi (imidacloprid + moxidectin) Topical Solution for dogs and cats, Advantage flea control for cats and dogs and K9 Advantix, a flea, tick, and mosquito control product for dogs. Advantage Multi, K9 Advantix and Advantage are trademarks of Bayer. The division specializes in parasite control and prescription pharmaceuticals for dogs, cats, horses, and cattle. North American operation for the Animal Health Division are headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. Bayer Animal Health is a division of Bayer HealthCare LLC, one of the world's leading healthcare companies.

Bayer Diabetes Care
Bayer Diabetes Care manages Bayer's medical devices portfolio. Key products include the blood glucose monitors Contour Next EZ (XT), Contour, Contour USB and Breeze 2 used in the management of diabetes.

Bayer MaterialScience
Bayer MaterialScience is a supplier of high-tech ­polymers, and develops solutions for a broad range of applications relevant to everyday life.

Bayer Business Services
Located at the Bayer USA Headquarters in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Bayer Business Services handles the information technology infrastructure and technical support aspect of Bayer USA and Bayer Canada. This is also the headquarters of the North American Service Desk, the central IT Help Desk for all of Bayer USA and Bayer Canada.

Bayer Technology Services
Bayer Technology Services is engaged in process development and in process and plant engineering, construction and optimization.

Currenta
Currenta offers services for the chemical industry, including utility supply, waste management, infrastructure, safety, security, analytics and vocational training.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen
In 1904, the company founded the sports club TuS 04 ("Turn- und Spielverein der Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co."), later SV Bayer 04 ("Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen"), finally becoming TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen ("Turn- und Sportverein") in 1984, generally, however, known simply as Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The club is best known for its football team, but has been involved in many other sports, including athletics, fencing, team handball, volleyball, boxing, and basketball. TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen is one of the largest sports clubs in Germany. The company also supports similar clubs at other company sites, including Dormagen (particularly handball), Wuppertal (particularly volleyball), and Krefeld-Uerdingen (featuring another former Bundesliga football club, SC Bayer 05 Uerdingen, now KFC Uerdingen 05).

Aspirin discoverer
Arthur Eichengr&uuml;n, a Bayer chemist, claimed to be the first to discover an aspirin formulation which did not have the unpleasant side effects of nausea and gastric pain. Eichengrün also claimed he invented the name aspirin and was the first person to use the new formulation to test its safety and efficacy. Bayer contends aspirin was discovered by Felix Hoffman to alleviate the sufferings of his father, who had arthritis. Various sources support the conflicting claims. Most mainstream historians attribute the invention of aspirin to Felix Hoffman and/or Arthur Eichengrün.

HIV infected blood products
A cite from :


 * "After 1978, there were four major companies in the United States engaged in the manufacture, production and sale of Factor VIII and IX: Armour Pharmaceutical Company, Bayer Corporation and its Cutter Biological division, Baxter Healthcare and its Hyland Pharmaceutical division and Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, which have been or are defendants in certain lawsuits.


 * "The plaintiffs allege that the companies manufactured and sold blood factor products as beneficial "medicines" that were, in fact, contaminated with HIV and/or HCV and resulted in the mass infection and/or deaths of thousands of haemophiliacs worldwide."

Baycol
After 52 deaths were blamed on an alleged side effect of Bayer's anticholesterol drug Baycol, its manufacture and sale were discontinued in 2001. The side effect was rhabdomyolysis, causing renal failure, which occurred with a tenfold greater frequency in patients treated with Baycol in comparison to those prescribed alternate medications of the statin class.

Medicaid reimbursement
In January 2001, Bayer agreed to pay $14 million to the United States and 45 states to settle allegations under the federal False Claims Act that the company caused physicians and other health care providers to submit fraudulently inflated reimbursement claims to Medicaid.

Methyl parathion poisoning case
In October 2001, Bayer was a co-defendant with the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of 24 children who died and 18 who were injured in the remote Andean village of Tauccamarca, when they drank a powdered milk substitute contaminated with the insecticide methyl parathion. Bayer responded to the charges by pointing out that it had withdrawn all methyl parathion-containing products from the market worldwide over 8 years before the incident in question.

Liberty Link rice
In August 2006, it became apparent that the United States rice crop had been contaminated with unapproved genetically engineered Bayer CropScience rice. The genetically engineered rice has an herbicide-resistance trait. These forms of rice are commonly referred to among US rice growers as "Liberty Link rice 601" or "LL 601". Approximately 100 varieties of rice are produced primarily in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and California.

2006 Trasylol safety advisory
In September 2006, Bayer was faulted by the FDA for not revealing during testimony the existence of a commissioned retrospective study of 67,000 patients, 30,000 of whom received Trasylol and the rest other antifibrinolytics. The study concluded Trasylol carried greater risks. The FDA was alerted to the study by one of the researchers involved. Although the FDA issued a statement of concern, they did not change their recommendation that the drug may benefit certain patients. In a Public Health Advisory Update dated 3 October 2006, the FDA recommended "physicians consider limiting Trasylol use to those situations in which the clinical benefit of reduced blood loss is necessary to medical management and outweighs the potential risks" and carefully monitor patients. The FDA took Trasylol off the market on 5 November 2007.

Yasmin / Yaz birth control pills
The FDA has warned Bayer for misstating the benefits of Yasmin (also known as Yaz) while understating its risks. In 2011, the FDA's panel of experts voted 15 to 11 that the benefits of Yasmin and related oral contraceptives outweighed the risks, and voted 21-5 that the labeling on Yaz was inadequate and needed more information about the potential risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs. In April 2012, the FDA ordered Bayer to change its U.S. labeling to reference the increased risk for blood clots. Subsequently, a meta analysis suggested that birth control pills of the class Yasmin belongs to raise the risk of blood clots to a greater extent than some other classes of birth control pills.

Neonicotinoid pesticides
In 2013, the European Commission implemented a 2 year suspension on the application of neonicotinoid pesticides to certain flowering crops. The suspension will not apply to cereal crops or other crops not attractive to bees. Bayer is challenging the restrictions.

In 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture organized a stakeholder conference to discuss bee colony collapse disorder in the United States. Approximately 150 stakeholders participated in the conference, including beekeepers, scientists, representatives of advocacy groups, beekeeping supply manufacturers, commodity groups, pesticide producers, academics, and state and federal government regulators. The consensus report issued by the conference attributes colony collapse to a complex mix of factors, of which the parasitic Varroa mite and several associated viruses have been closely associated with overwinter declines. It was concluded that the most pressing research issue was to determine the actual field-relevant pesticide exposure and the effect of pervasive exposure to multiple pesticides on bee health.

The EPA has stated that it is not aware of any data demonstrating that bee colonies are subject to elevated losses due to long-term exposure to clothianidin. However, leaked documents indicate that some agency scientists disagree with this position.

The Australian Government issued a report in January 2014 that notes that "the introduction of the neonicotinoids has led to an overall reduction in the risks to the agricultural environment from the application of insecticides. This view is also balanced with the advice that Australian honeybee populations are not in decline, despite the increased use of this group of insecticides in agriculture and horticulture since the mid-1990s."

Chemical accidents
On 28 August 2008, an explosion occurred at the Bayer CropScience facility at Institute, West Virginia, United States. A runaway reaction ruptured a tank and the resulting explosion killed two employees. The ruptured tank was close to a methyl isocyanate tank which was undamaged by the explosion.

Awards and recognition
In October 2008, Bayer's Canadian division was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Canadian division was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by the Toronto Star newspaper. Bayer USA was given a score of 85 (out of 100) in the Human Rights Campaign's 2011 Corporate Equality Index, a measure of gay and lesbian workplace equality.