DGAP-Adhoc: Bayer AG: Court Decides against the Company’s Yasmin® Patent


Bayer Aktiengesellschaft / Legal Matter

03.03.2008 

Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Court Decides against the Company’s Yasmin® Patent

Leverkusen, Germany, March 3, 2008 – On March 3, 2008, the US District
Court for the District of New Jersey ruled against the validity of Bayer
Schering Pharma’s 531 patent for the company’s oral contraceptive Yasmin,
the result of a patent challenge by generic manufacturer Barr Laboratories.

Bayer disagrees with the court’s decision and will consider its legal
options in this regard. The company will continue to vigorously defend its
intellectual property.

Bayer is currently evaluating the impact of the court’s decision on another
product of the company’s line of oral contraceptives, the oral
contraceptive YAZ which was approved for marketing by the US FDA and
launched in 2006.  However, regardless of the outcome of today’s court
decision Bayer retains marketing exclusivity for YAZ as an oral
contraceptive in the US until March 16, 2009.  No generic manufacturer can
lawfully market a generic version of YAZ for an oral contraceptive
indication until after March 16, 2009.

The company has now slightly adjusted the subgroup’s margin target and
plans to improve the EBITDA margin before special items of Bayer HealthCare
toward 27 percent in 2008, from 25.6 percent in 2007. However, the margin
target of around 28 percent for 2009 remains unchanged. Sales of Yasmin in
the US amounted to EUR 321 million in 2007.

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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:

Forward-Looking Statements 
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current
assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management.
Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead
to material differences between the actual future results, financial
situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates
given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public
reports, which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The
company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking
statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Contacts at Bayer AG, Investor Relations:

Dr. Alexander Rosar (+49-214-30-81013)
Dr. Juergen Beunink (+49-214-30-65742)
Peter Dahlhoff (+49-214-30-33022)
Ilia Kürten (+49-214-30-35426)
Ute Menke (+49-214-30-33021)
Judith Nestmann (+49-214-30-66836)
Dr. Olaf Weber (+49-214-30-33567)



Contact:
Herr Peter Dahlhoff, Bayer AG, Investor Relations, Tel.: 0214-30-33022,
e-mail: peter.dahlhoff@bayer-ag.de, Fax: 0214-30-96-33022


DGAP 03.03.2008 
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Language:     English
Issuer:       Bayer Aktiengesellschaft
              Gebäude W 11
              51368 Leverkusen
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)21430-1
Fax:          +49 (0)21430-66328
E-mail:       alexander.rosar.ar1@bayer-ag.de
Internet:     www.bayer-ag.de
ISIN:         DE0005752000
WKN:          575200
Indices:      DAX,, EURO STOXX 50
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard),
              Hannover, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg;
              Terminbörse EUREX; Foreign Exchange(s) London, Madrid, Tokyo,
              SWX
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
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