Bayer Denies Interest In MMD

Bayer is not interested in acquiring Marion Merrell Dow of the USA and has no plans to acquire a pharmaceutical company at this time, said Manfred Schneider, Bayer's chairman, in Leverkusen, Germany, last week (see also page 3). He said that the company's position in pharmaceuticals is good and that there is no need to acquire another pharmaceutical company.

Furthermore, board member Walter Wenninger is sceptical of acquisitions of pharmacy benefit managers and said that Bayer will not go down this road. He said that Bayer will work on the basis of individual contracts in the USA. However, he did indicate that a US acquisition in one of its other business segments is expected in the first quarter of 1995.

Dr Schneider indicated that in the health care segment Bayer is focussing on developing its business in the over-the-counter medicines area following its acquisition of the Sterling OTC business (Marketletters passim). It is also looking to develop its profile in the USA, having regained rights to Bayer Aspirin. It plans to "develop the product into a modern brand in the USA and make it a growth product in the keenly contested analgesics market," he said.