The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7174 p701-706
17 November 2001

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Ciproxin sales in the US have not been enough to reverse Bayer's bad luck

Increased sales of ciprofloxacin (Cip-roxin) in the United States have not been enough to reverse Bayer's year of "bad luck" nor prevent it reporting its first ever quarterly loss.

Bayer expects sales of Ciproxin to reach around euro2bn (£1.24bn) this year, compared with euro1.75bn in 2000. This includes a recent deal with the US government for 100 million tablets at $0.95 each, a 54 per cent discount on the normal list price. Ciprofloxacin's patent in the US expires in 2003 (2002 in the United Kingdom).

Manfred Schneider, chairman of Bayer AG, said at a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, on 14 November, that Bayer has gone to great lengths to accommodate the US government over the price of Ciproxin and has donated four million tablets for the immediate treatment of anthrax for rescue services and postal workers in the US.

The withdrawal of Lipobay (cerivastatin) earlier this year has cost the company euro900m and will result in 1,300 job losses in the pharmaceuticals division. However, sales of Lipobay had been expected to double from last year's euro630m. The loss of Lipobay was "bad luck not bad management", Mr Schneider said. He added that Bayer has not given up all hope of reintroducing Lipobay to the market.

Bayer has also experienced continuing problems producing its recombinant factor VIII product Kogenate this year but production is expected to return to normal next year and a separate biological products group is to be created within the pharmaceuticals division.

A marketing agreement with GlaxoSmithKline for Bayer's new impotence product vardenafil is expected to be announced shortly. The product is scheduled to be launched next year. Overall, Bayer reported a loss of euro183m on sales of euro6.9bn for the third quarter of 2001, the first time the company has ever reported a loss for a three-month trading period.

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