Bayer HealthCare Invests $100 Million in New Product Testing Facility to Support Emerging Generations of Hemophilia Treatments

BERKELEY, Calif., April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer HealthCare today announced a $100 million investment in its Berkeley, Calif. manufacturing site to build a product testing facility that will support the next generation of treatments for patients with hemophilia A. The investment represents the company's dedication to science and innovation in the life sciences. The Bay Area is the U.S. headquarters for research, development and biotech manufacturing for Bayer HealthCare.

"Building upon our legacy in hemophilia A, we are delighted to continue Bayer's leadership in working to bring treatment options to patients around the world," said Joerg Heidrich, Senior Vice President for Product Supply Biotech and Site Head at Bayer Berkeley. "As the Bay Area's third largest biotech employer, we are also proud to be making this contribution to the world's richest center of biotech R&D, investment, and production."

Bayer has a long history in hemophilia, with more than 25 years of research and development on products and approaches to meet varied needs of patients with hemophilia A. The new facility will be built at Bayer's Berkeley manufacturing site.

"The new product testing facility will test Bayer's investigational products in accordance with rigorous global regulatory requirements," said David Weinreich, MD, Head, Global Development, Specialty Medicine at Bayer. "With today's announcement, we are thrilled to further strengthen our commitment to the hemophilia A patient community that Bayer has served for more than a quarter century."

Along with the new facility, this investment is expected to create 325,000 hours of jobs with local union contractors in trades ranging from glaziers to iron workers to sprinkler fitters.

About Bayer HealthCare
The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of around EUR 20.0 billion (2014), is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 60,700 employees (Dec 31, 2014) and is represented in more than 100 countries. More information is available at www.healthcare.bayer.com.

About Bayer in the Bay Area
Bayer HealthCare is the third largest biotech employer in the Bay Area and a global leader in the research, development and manufacturing of biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical therapies that improve human health. Bayer HealthCare's presence on the U.S. West Coast includes a manufacturing facility in Berkeley and its U.S. research hub, the U.S. Innovation Center in San Francisco.

© 2015 Bayer HealthCare
BAYER and the Bayer Cross are registered trademarks of Bayer.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain 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.

PP-575-US-1616

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SOURCE Bayer HealthCare