Download - Bayer HealthCare

€1,962 million of the Bayer Group’s total research and development (r&D) spending
went to Bayer HealthCare in 2012, corresponding to 65.1 percent of the group’s entire
research expenditure, or 10.5 percent of Bayer HealthCare’s sales. Some 7,500 employees
research and develop innovative active ingredients for the treatment of diseases
where there is a high level of medical need.
Drug discovery in Bayer HealthCare’s Pharmaceuticals Division is concentrated on the areas of
Cardiology, Oncology, Hematology and Women’s Healthcare, while the corresponding
mechanisms of inflammation and the development of new therapeutic options in oph-
thalmology are also of interest. The division aims to identify low-molecular-weight sub-
stances as well as to develop new biologics. It also evolves products that have already
been granted regulatory approval, for example by developing novel formulations. In
many of these projects, Bayer’s scientists work together in close collaboration with
external cooperation partners.
rESEArCH AnD DEvEloPMEnT
One example of an innovative active ingredient is the anticoagulant Xarelto (rivaroxaban)
which was invented in Bayer’s laboratories in Wuppertal and co-developed with
Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The extensive clinical trial program conducted for rivaroxaban
which will have involved more than 100,000 patients once all studies are completed
makes it the most studied oral, direct Factor Xa inhibitor in the world today. The
clinical development program investigated the inhibitor’s potential in the prevention and
treatment of a broad spectrum of acute and chronic thromboembolic disorders,
including stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, treatment of deep vein
thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, prevention of recurrent deep vein thrombosis or
pulmonary embolism, and finally secondary prevention of acute coronary syndrome.
Another innovative substance from Bayer’s research laboratories is riociguat, the first
drug from a new class of vasodilatative substances. This oral product is being developed
for the treatment of various forms of pulmonary hypertension, a rare but lifethreatening
disease. Further priorities in cardiology research are heart failure and kidney
disorders. The functions of the heart and kidneys are mutually interdependent and
heart and kidney diseases often share common underlying disease mechanisms.
Despite major progress in the fight against cancer, there is still a high medical need for
therapies to prolong life and improve the quality of life. The development pipeline in
Oncology comprises various targeted antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates as well as
low-molecular-weight substances. These include, in addition to Nexavar (sorafenib), a
co-development with Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the substance regorafenib, which inhibits
various enzymes involved in tumor growth and the formation of new blood vessels
(neoangiogenesis), and radium-223 dichloride, a novel alpha-pharmaceutical drug
which is being co-developed with the norwegian company Algeta ASA for the treatment
of tumor types which have already formed metastases in the bones. Radium-223
dichloride emits targeted alpha radiation to eliminate cancer cells in the bones. It was
filed for regulatory approval for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate
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