Bayer to reposition pharmaceuticals business
Following its reorganisation, the Bayer Group intends to maintain its focus on its core businesses and concentrate all its financial and management resources on developing and expanding its research-intensive activities in health care, nutrition and innovative materials.
Following its reorganisation, the Bayer Group intends to maintain its focus on its core businesses and concentrate all its financial and management resources on developing and expanding its research-intensive activities in health care, nutrition and innovative materials.
Bayer's new realignment includes repositioning the pharmaceuticals business. It will concentrate its research effort on the therapeutic areas where it already plays a leading role and has developed successful products: anti-infectives, cardiovascular (including diabetes and obesity) and urology. Bayer also has a number of promising product developments in the oncology (cancer) field.
'We have examined all the options for this business - especially the possibility of partnerships. We found that none of these solutions would have adequately reflected the value of our pharmaceuticals business,' said Bayer ceo Werner Wenning. 'We therefore intend to focus on our own strengths and steer our pharmaceuticals division with significantly modified structures towards a successful future.'
The pharmaceuticals division will be positioned as a medium-sized business that will be focused more strongly on Europe, though without neglecting the important markets in the US and Asia. According to Wenning, considerable progress has already been made in restructuring pharmaceuticals. Successful new product launches have given grounds for optimism. For example, sales of Levitra, Bayer's treatment for erectile dysfunction, are very encouraging. Also, major progress has been made in the area of cancer research. A raf kinase inhibitor for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, developed in collaboration with US company Onyx, has now entered phase III clinical trials.
Following the reorganisation, Bayer will have three operating subgroups: Bayer HealthCare, Bayer CropScience and Bayer MaterialScience. The three service companies will also remain within the Bayer Group.
Growth will come primarily from products containing newly researched active ingredients, from the consumer healthcare business and from growth in Asia. However, contributions to value creation should be achieved by the Group-wide utilisation of technology platforms, nanotechnology and the expansion of biotechnology and genetic engineering as key innovation drivers.
Bayer Chemicals (excluding H.C. Starck and Wolff Walsrode) is to be combined with certain parts of the polymers business in a new company with the provisional name NewCo. The aim is for this company to be listed on the stock market under a new name by early 2005.
'Following the separation, Bayer - with sales of around €22bn - will be able to focus more closely on the core businesses in which we have excellent technologies, strong market positions and above all growth areas that we intend to further strengthen by pooling all our resources,' said Wenning.