From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia.
- For other uses, see
Bayer (disambiguation).
Bayer AG (German
pronunciation "BYE-er", in US
usually pronounced "BAY-er") (TYO:
4863) is a
German
chemical and
pharmaceutical company founded
in 1863. It is headquartered in
Leverkusen,
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany. It is well-known for
its original brand of
aspirin.
About Bayer AG
In order to separate
operational and strategic
management Bayer AG was
reorganized into a
holding company in December
2003. The groups core businesses
were transformed into limited
companies, each controlled by
Bayer AG. These companies are:
Bayer CropScience AG; Bayer
HealthCare AG; Bayer Material
Science AG and Bayer Chemicals AG
and the three service companies
Bayer Technology Services GmbH,
Bayer Business Services GmbH and
Bayer Industry Services GmbH & Co.
OHG. Austrian journalist
Klaus Werner proved in his
Black Book on Brand Companies,
that the Bayer subsidiary
H.C.Starck financed the civil
war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
by trading illegally with the
mineral
coltan. The allegations were
also proved by an
U.N. panel of experts.
Following Bayer's successful
reorganization, its chemicals
activities (with the exception of
H.C. Starck and Wolff Walsrode)
have been combined with certain
components of the polymers segment
to form the new company
LANXESS. This change took
place on July 1, 2004, with
LANXESS to be listed on the stock
exchange by the beginning of 2005.
Bayer AG shares are listed on
XETRA in Germany,
LSE in the
United Kingdom and on
NYSE in the
United States.
History
Advertisement for
Aspirin, Heroin, Lycetol,
Salophen
Bayer AG was founded in
Germany in
1863 by
Friedrich Bayer and his
partner,
Johann Friedrich Weskott.
Bayer's first major product was
acetylsalicylic acid, a
modification of
salicylic acid or
salicin, a
folk remedy found in the
bark of the
willow. By
1899, Bayer's
trademark
Aspirin was registered
worldwide for Bayer's brand of
acetylsalicylic acid, but through
the widespread use to describe all
brands of the compound, and
Bayer's failure to protect its
trademark, the word "aspirin" lost
its trademark status in the
United States. It is now
widely used there for all brands
of the drug. However in some other
countries, such as
Canada, it is still a
registered trademark.
In
1904, Bayer introduced the
Bayer cross as its corporate
logo, consisting of the
horizontal word "BAYER" crossed
with the vertical word "BAYER",
both words sharing the "Y".
Bayer became part of
IG Farben, a conglomerate of
German chemical industries that
emerged during
World War I. When the
Allies split IG Farben after
World War II for involvement
in several Nazi
war crimes, Bayer reappeared
as an individual business.
After
World War I, Bayer AG was
penalized by having the rights to
its name and
trademarks taken away in the
United States,
Canada, and several other
countries. In the United States
and Canada, Bayer's assets were
acquired by
Sterling Drugs, a predecessor
of
Sterling Winthrop Inc., and
the trademarked Bayer aspirin was
produced by
Miles Laboratories. In
1978, Bayer AG 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 order to
reacquire trademark rights to
Bayer aspirin. In
1994, Bayer AG purchased
Sterling Winthrop's
over the counter drug
business, in order to reacquire
the rest of the trademark rights
to Bayer and the Bayer cross.
They have discovered, among
others:
Bayer Cropscience
In 2002 Bayer AG acquired
Aventis CropScience and formed
Bayer CropScience. The company is
now one of the world's leading
innovative
crop science companies in the
areas of crop protection, non-agricultural
pest control,
seeds and
plant
biotechnology. In addition to
conventional agrochemical business
it is involved in
genetic engineering of food.
Pesticide controversy
Bayer AG is involved in an
ongoing controversy with French
and Nova Scotian
beekeepers over claimed
pesticide kills of
honeybees from its seed
treatment insecticide
Gaucho. France has since
issued a provisional ban on the
use of Gaucho for corn seed
treatment pending further action.
A consortium of U.S. beekeepers
has also filed a civil suit
against Bayer CropScience for
alleged losses.
Diversity
Bayer was named one of the 100
Best Companies for Working Mothers
in 2004 by Working Mothers
magazine.
See also
