After the severe research setback with the anticoagulant Asundexian at the end of 2023, Bayer is once again looking more confidently at its pharmaceutical pipeline.

"We are successfully implementing our ambitious business goals despite a challenging market environment. At the same time, the value of our development pipeline is growing as a result of the acceleration of groundbreaking innovations," explained the head of the pharmaceutical business, board member Stefan Oelrich, on Tuesday at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The Leverkusen-based agriculture and pharmaceutical company has recently made further progress, including the submission of several marketing authorization applications for the important growth drivers: the cancer drug Nubeqa, the kidney drug Kerendia, Elinzanetant for menopausal symptoms and the heart drug Acoramidis.

Bayer believes that all of these drugs have blockbuster potential, i.e. the potential to generate annual sales in excess of one billion euros. However, the Dax-listed company no longer provides exact forecasts for the peak sales potential of its most promising blockbuster drug candidates, unlike two years ago. Asundexian had been expected to generate peak sales of more than five billion euros for Bayer – more than any of its other drugs. But at the end of 2023, the company suffered a massive setback with the drug: The anticoagulant failed in a crucial clinical study with patients who had suffered a stroke and were at risk of having another one. Bayer's share price fell dramatically. The company is still conducting a study on the prevention of ischemic stroke, which is now the focus of the Board of Management's hopes.

Supplies for the pharmaceutical pipeline are essential for Bayer, as the patents for its blockbusters – the anticoagulant Xarelto and the ophthalmic agent Eylea – are expiring. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Oelrich said that he expects the pharmaceutical division to grow again from 2027. New drugs should compensate for the decline in sales due to the loss of the Xarelto patent. 2025 and 2026 are expected to be negative for Xarelto. "We hope to be able to compensate for this loss, and as soon as this effect is offset from 2027, we expect to see growth again for the entire portfolio."

BAYER IS FOCUSING ON REDUCING ITS DEBT RATHER THAN ON TAKEOVERS.

No major acquisitions are planned in the pharmaceutical business, because in the next few years, Bayer wants to concentrate on reducing its debt, as Oelrich told the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung". "I don't see any major acquisitions in the next two to three years, at least." Although there is a small budget for the purchase of additional licenses, the company's priority now is to reduce its debt after making acquisitions in the last five to six years that cost between eight and ten billion euros.

Oelrich also emphasized that there is no reason to split up the group, whose business extends from agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter health products. "As long as the structure does not hinder the individual businesses in our respective markets, there is no reason to dissolve it. We function with three very independent businesses," Oelrich explained. "In the pharmaceutical business, we are no longer among the top five in the world, but in this business, it is not size that matters, but innovation."

(Report by Patricia Weiß, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and business) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)