News

News 2007

June 2007	Innovative environmental technology presented Currenta (formerly Bayer Industry Services) has developed an innovative process enabling up to 99.99 percent of the mercury in flue gases to be removed. The inexpensive and efficient technology was presented by the company in June 2007 at the third “Woche der Umwelt” (Environment Week) at Schloss Bellevue Park in Berlin at the invitation of German Federal President Horst Köhler.
August 2007	TUNZA International Youth Conference at Bayer In August 2007, as part of its partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bayer hosted the first TUNZA International Youth Environment Conference to be held in central Europe. 180 young environmentalists aged 15 – 24 from 85 countries exchanged ideas on the topic of “Technology in Service of the Environment“ and gathered information first-hand at the Bayer sites and on trips to external environmental facilities. Bayer also supports the UNEP initiative “Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign” as one of the six official partners from the private sector. As a contribution to the fight against climate change, Bayer planted some 300,000 trees around the world in 2007. They will reduce the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere by an estimated 7,500 metric tons per year. During the conference, UNEP and Bayer extended their cooperation agreement in the area of youth and the environment for a further three years. 6:53 min.
September 2007	Cooperation in the fight against malaria Bayer CropScience and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) signed an agreement in September 2007 to collaborate on two projects aimed at finding new effective solutions in the fight against malaria and other vector-borne diseases. The first project sets out to find an indoor spray that affords improved and long-lasting protection against carriers of malaria and other diseases. The aim of the second project is to modify current active ingredients to solve the resistance problem.
September 2007	Top performance in sustainability In September 2007, the Carbon Disclosure Project included Bayer in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index for the third time in succession after 2005 and 2006. It was the only European chemical company to receive this award. The ranking was undertaken by independent experts for the world’s 500 largest stock-market-listed companies. In September 2007, Bayer was again included in the European Dow Jones Sustainability Index stoxx (DJSI STOXX) and also the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World (DJSI World). On the basis of this independent evaluation, the company is thus considered to be one of the international leaders in sustainability.
September 2007	Award for a century of culture at Bayer In the presence of German Federal President Horst Köhler and North Rhine-Westphalia State Premier Jürgen Rüttgers, the 100th season of the Bayer Cultural Affairs Department was opened at the beginning of September 2007 at the “Erholungshaus” in Leverkusen. For its program “A century of culture at Bayer,” Bayer was awarded first prize by the “Freedom and Responsibility” initiative in the “large companies” category. The initiative, of which President Köhler is patron, thus honored the long tradition of cultural and social activities organized by the Bayer Cultural Affairs Department.
October 2007	Donations for school projects Through its “Bayer Science & Education Foundation” established in October 2007, Bayer will support 21 school projects in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia with a donation of €400,000. Focused on local schools, the Foundation will grant financial subsidies to improve conditions in the teaching of natural sciences as well as for specific projects. The aim is to help improve the level of education at schools near the Bayer sites on a sustained basis. By doing this, the company wants to stress the fundamental importance of training and education for young people, both for the future of society as a whole and for the future of Bayer as an employer.
October 2007	Use of renewable raw materials in polyurethanes Bayer MaterialScience has developed polyols – one of the basic components of polyurethanes – containing up to 70 percent by weight renewable raw materials. As such, they can make an additional contribution to cutting down emissions. Recently, many promising products have been developed with a high proportion of vegetable oils, which allow the use of natural resources to supplement fossil raw materials. The company showcased some of the potential applications, which range from refrigerator insulation to imitation forest floors, on its stand at the K 2007 Plastics Fair in Düsseldorf in October 2007.
In the end of 2007	Rivaroxaban submitted for approval At the end of 2007, Bayer HealthCare submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) for rivaroxaban (planned commercial name: Xarelto®) in the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after major orthopedic surgery of the lower limbs. Upon regulatory approval, Xarelto® will be marketed in Europe by Bayer Schering Pharma. The company plans to file for approval of the product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008 for the same indications. Rivaroxaban is a once-daily direct Factor xa inhibitor in tablet form. 6:35 min.
November 2007	Marketing of Trasylol® temporarily suspended In November 2007, Bayer temporarily suspended the global marketing of Trasylol® after interim results from an independent clinical study in Canada indicated the possibility of a higher mortality risk of Trasylol® patients. Trasylol® is a drug for controlling blood loss in coronary bypass operations. Up until May 15, 2008, a total of 89 actions had been brought against Bayer in the United States. The plaintiffs maintain that Trasylol® led to health impairment such as kidney failure or death.
December 2007	Carbon monoxide pipeline between Dormagen and Krefeld Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) is building a pipeline to link up the Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites and supplement the existing CO network system between Dormagen and Leverkusen. BMS has always proceeded in strict accordance with the law at the time and has done everything it possibly can to inform the public as extensively as possible. The Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia and the District Government of Düsseldorf as approving authority have agreed to the project. BMS has many decades of experience in the safe handling of CO, and this has gone into the planning of the pipeline, which is now under construction. Nevertheless, the Higher Administrative Court of Münster arrived at two decisions, in December 2007 and January 2008, to allow the construction of the pipeline but to provisionally ban putting it into operation. BMS regrets the second part of these decisions and will subject them to thorough scrutiny.