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Bayer
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 For other uses, see Bayer (disambiguation)or  Beyer  or buyer .
 
Bayer AG
Type
Public (FWB: BAY, TYO: 4863
 
)
Founded
1863
Headquarters
Leverkusen,Germany
Key people
Werner Wenning
(CEO)
, Manfred Schneider 
(Chairman of thesupervisory board
 
)
Industry
Pharmaceuticals
 
, chemicals
Products
Veterinary drugs, diagnostic imaging, general and specialtymedicines
 
, women'shealth  products,over-the-counter drugs
 
,diabetescare,  pesticides
 
, plant biotechnology
 
, polymers
 
, coatings
 
, adhesives
Revenue
 €32.918  billion 
(2008)
[1]
Operatingincome
▲
€3.544 billion
(2008)
[1]
Profit
▲
€1.719 billion
(2008)
[1]
Employees
108,600
(2008)
[1]
Subsidiaries
Bayer MaterialScience, Bayer USA, Bayer  Schering Pharma
 
,Bayer HealthCarePharmaceuticals, Bayer CropScience
Website
www.bayer.com
 
Advertisement for Aspirin,Heroin,Lycetol,Salophen
Bayer AG
was founded inBarmen(today a part of Wuppertal
 
), Germany in 1863 byFriedrich Bayer and his partner, Johann Friedrich Weskott. Bayer's first major product wasacetylsalicylic acid(originally discovered by FrenchchemistCharles Frederic Gerhardtin 1853), a modification of  salicylic acidor  salicin, a folk remedy found in the bark of thewillowplant. By 1899, Bayer'strademark  Aspirin  was registered worldwide for Bayer's brand of acetylsalicylic acid, but because of theconfiscation of Bayer's US assets and trademarks during World War Iby the United States - and the subsequent widespread usage of the word to describe all brands of thecompound, "Aspirin" lost its trademark status in theUnited States, France, and theUnited  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 asCanada, Mexico,Germany, andSwitzerland,  it is still a registered trademark of Bayer.In 1904, the Bayer company introduced the Bayer cross as its corporate logo. BecauseBayer's aspirinwas 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 actualtablets, so that customers would associate Bayer with its aspirin.As part of the reparations after World War I, Bayer had its assets, including the rights toits name andtrademarks, confiscated in the United States,Canada, and several other  countries. In the United States and Canada, Bayer's assets and trademarks were acquired bySterling Drug, a predecessor of  Sterling Winthrop. The Bayer company then became part of IG Farben,a conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed a part of the financial core of the German Naziregime. IG Farbenowned 42.5% of the company that manufactured Zyklon B
[
citation needed 
 
]
, a chemical used inthe gas chambers of Auschwitzand other extermination camps. During World War II, thecompany also extensively usedslave labor  in factories attached to largeslave labor  camps, notably the sub-camps of theMauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
[2]
 . When theAlliessplit IG Farben into several pieces after World War IIfor involvement in organized  Nazi war crimes, Bayer reappeared as an individual business. The Bayer executive Fritz ter Meer , sentenced to seven years in prison by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, was made head of the supervisory board of Bayer in 1956, after his release.
[3]
In 1978, Bayer purchasedMiles Laboratories and its subsidiaries Miles Canadaand Cutter Laboratories(along with a product line includingAlka-Seltzer , Flintstones Vitamins andOne-A-Day Vitamins, and Cutter insect repellent
 
). In 1994, Bayer AG purchased Sterling Winthrop'sover the counter drug business fromSmithKline Beecham  and merged it with Miles Laboratories, thereby reacquiring the U.S. and Canadiantrademark rights to "Bayer" and the Bayer cross, as well as the ownership of the Aspirintrademark in Canada.
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