Protection against West Nile virus and Lyme disease

Bayer: New tick product for dogs
set to take global veterinary market by storm

Launch to follow regulatory approval in the USALeverkusen – Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health Division in the USA is getting off to a great start in 2003 with a new veterinary product to combat ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. The new product eliminates the vectors that transmit Lyme disease and West Nile virus, two diseases that represent a danger to humans too. Following a record development time of just three years and recent regulatory approval in the USA, the product is scheduled for submission to the authorities in countries worldwide in the next few years.

Members of the international scientific community and research scientists from Bayer today presented the new product to more than 10,000 experts and veterinarians attending the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, Florida. The company expects the new flea and tick treatment for dogs to become one of the most successful products in the veterinary market.

West Nile virus is endemic in certain regions of the USA and is threatening to spread to Europe. Lyme disease is a serious bacterial infection which is common both in the USA and in Europe.

Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading innovative healthcare companies, supplying drugs and medical products. It has sales of around EUR 10 million. The Bayer subgroup combines the activities of the Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals Divisions and employs more than 34,000 people worldwide.

Bayer HealthCare develops, manufactures and distributes innovative products for medical diagnostics, preventive healthcare and therapeutic purposes which make an important contribution to improving the health of people and animals throughout the world.

The Animal Health Division has sales of around EUR 860 million (2001) and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of veterinary drugs for livestock and companion animals. Its product portfolio includes major offerings such as Advantage®, an innovative flea treatment for dogs and cats, antibiotics to treat serious bacterial infections and worming agents.