NewsFile

Bayer Classic sets a Record:
10 Billion Aspirin Tablets Produced at Bayer's Bitterfeld Facility

Aspirin, the world's best known medication and one of the most innovative ever produced, has yet another achievement to celebrate: the production of the 10 billionth Aspirin tablet at Bayer's production facility in Bitterfeld, Germany. Lined up one after another, a chain of 10 billion Aspirin tablets would be long enough to encircle the Earth 3-1/2 times.

"This is a milestone for Aspirin and a symbol of the worldwide success and convincing quality of a brand which has been used for pain relief for over 100 years and which today is a registered Bayer AG brand in over 80 countries," said Dr. Georg Frank, manager of Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH, where the 10 billionth tablet was just rolled off the production line.

"The 10 billionth Aspirin is also an accomplishment for Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH, which took up the production five years ago and which today is one of the most modern consumer care production facilities in the world," Frank also said. Annual output of self-medication products at Bitterfeld totals about 2.9 billion tablets. Aspirin alone accounts for some 2.3 to 2.5 billion of them.

For some time now Aspirin has been recognized as a treatment for the common headache. But recent research has proven it to be effective for a number of other indications - and still more are likely to follow. The potential for this 100-year-old pharmaceutical is so broad that some 30 percent of the research budget for the Consumer Care business unit will be devoted to researching new indication areas and to developing appropriate methods of administering Aspirin for these new indications. "Aspirin could achieve a new success this year with the offering of an effervescent tablet in Germany for migraine headaches," said Dr. Gunnar Riemann of Bayer's Consumer Care Division.

Bayer Ltd. / Corporate Communications
Tokyo, September 25, 2000