From left to right, Dr. Chuan-Kit Foo, Head of Medical Affairs, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division Asia / Pacific, Claus Zieler, Senior Vice-President and Head of Commercial Operations, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division Asia / Pacific, and Oliver Renner, Head Pharmaceuticals Communications & Health Policy, Bayer AG.
Singapore — Bayer recently reported another successful year for its Pharmaceuticals division in the Asia/Pacific region. On a currency adjusted basis, sales grew by 8.5 percent 1 to more than €5.0 billion, making Asia/Pacific the fastest growing region for Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals sales in 2017. Sales in the region contributed about 30 percent of the division’s global sales, which is the second largest contributor among all regions. This is the seventh consecutive year of robust growth for Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division in Asia Pacific, with sales nearly doubled from over €2.6 billion in 2010 to about €5.0 billion in 2017.
Innovative products such as the oral anticoagulant Xarelto (Rivaroxaban), eye medicine Eylea (Aflibercept) and oral cancer treatment Nexavar (Sorafenib) are key products in the region. Mr. Claus Zieler, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Operations, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division Asia/Pacific, said: “We are pleased with our solid performance in Asia/Pacific, which makes the region the biggest growth driver for our Pharmaceuticals business in 2017. Our innovative medicines provide solutions to the region’s major health challenges such as stroke, cancer and eye diseases related to aging and diabetes. We are heartened to see they continue to be well received by doctors and patients year after year.”
In the field of cancer, Bayer has entered into an exclusive global collaboration with Loxo Oncology, a U.S. biopharmaceutical company, to develop and commercialize two novel oncology therapies selectively targeting genetic drivers of cancer. With the collaboration of Loxo Oncology, Bayer’s oncology pipeline will make a meaningful difference for patients suffering from various types of cancer.
Bayer has ensured that the Asia/Pacific population is well represented in its clinical development activities. It has systematically recruited patients from the region as part of its global clinical trials. The number of ongoing clinical trials conducted has more than doubled from 21 in 2007 to 53 in Asia/Pacific in 2017, out of which 22 of them are
conducted in Singapore.
