Bayer and Schering optimistic about their common future

Following the success of Bayer's takeover offer for Schering, the two companies are confident about their common future. "We will combine two successful pharmaceutical companies to form a single, even more powerful unit and create a leading global enterprise," said Bayer management board chairman Werner Wenning.

An extraordinary stockholders" meeting of Schering is planned for September. After that the future Bayer Schering Pharma, headquartered in Berlin, will be led by a new board of management chaired by Arthur Higgins, who will also continue to head up the entire Bayer HealthCare subgroup. Due to the importance of the merger, Wenning himself plans to take over the chairmanship of the new company's supervisory board.

Also on the management board of Bayer Schering Pharma will be Dr Ulrich Koestlin and Professor Marc Rubin from Schering, along with Dr Gunnar Riemann and Werner Baumann from Bayer. Koestlin will assume responsibility for the primary care, gynecology and andrology, and diagnostic imaging product groups, and will represent the business in Europe, Asia and Japan. Riemann will head up the oncology, hematology and cardiology, dermatology, and specialty therapeutics business units and also assume responsibility for the North and South America regions.

Rubin will serve as head of r&d in the new company, while Baumann will become head of central administration and organisation. In this function, Baumann will continue to be responsible for the entire Bayer HealthCare subgroup.

The three other current members of the Schering Executive Board - Dr Karin Dorrepaal, Professor Rainer Metternich and Dr Joerg Spiekerkoetter - have decided not to serve on the board of management of Bayer Schering Pharma. The present executive board of Schering will remain in office until the extraordinary stockholders" meeting and assist with the integration.

Wenning said the planning for a rapid integration process is already well advanced. He confirmed that Bayer Schering Pharma will be headquartered in Berlin, and said the name clearly shows that due account is being taken of the great tradition of the Schering brand in conjunction with the Bayer brand. "Bayer Schering Pharma is destined to become a national champion in pharmaceuticals and to take its place among the world's top ten suppliers of specialty pharmaceuticals."

Based on 2005 figures, the new company will have sales in excess of Euro 9bn, making it the biggest pharmaceutical company in Germany.

Schering executive board chairman Dr Hubertus Erlen said he is relieved that Bayer's friendly takeover of Schering has succeeded. "The acquisition presents a great opportunity to create a powerful, world-class pharmaceutical company based in Berlin," he declared.

The two companies" businesses complement each other well and share the same strategic alignment. One example of this is oncology, explained Erlen. The merger will not only enable the new company to grow more quickly overall, but "will also raise efficiency in research and development, enabling us to create new therapies for diseases for which there are currently no effective treatments."