Bayer’s pharmaceutical business may finally be entering a long-awaited growth cycle, but CEO Bill Anderson still can’t quite escape the lingering questions around a potential crop science split.
The renewed inquiry, raised on Bayer’s third-quarter earnings call, was inspired by Vylor’s recent spin-off from Corteva to become an independent seed and genetics company. The call for a two-way pharma-crop split has been on Bayer investors’ mind for at least eight years, and it was one of the top questions Anderson faced when he came to the top job in 2023.
When Anderson quickly launched a major group-wide overhaul to reduce bureaucratic hierarchy years ago, the pharma veteran rejected the idea of an immediate break-up, arguing it was not feasible as the German conglomerate was simultaneously trying to revitalize its businesses. Today, Anderson still argues that evaluating a potential corporate separation is not his—or Bayer’s—priority.
The “opportunity cost of structural adventures” have kept Bayer focused on its five key growth drivers for its pharma division and “going all out with AI implementation across Bayer,” Anderson said on the Q3 earnings call.
He pointed to the company’s preparation for its FXIa inhibitor asundexian in cardiovascular diseases and the elimination of nearly 70% management role since a major restructuring implemented in early 2024.
“We've put a whole new way of operating in. You can’t do that and be doing that kind of company dividing,” Anderson said. “We like this focus that we have. We feel like it’s driving better results, and I think I speak for all of us that we don’t think we’re anywhere close to done with this in terms of the improvements that we can make in terms of driving faster action, higher productivity [and] better customer satisfaction.”
The renewed interest in a pharma-crop split also comes as Bayer spots what CFO Judith Hartmann called “a new growth cycle” with both top- and bottom-line growth in “a major milestone and turning point worth pausing to acknowledge.”
After years under pressure from competition to its older brands Xarelto and Eylea, Bayer’s pharma division drove the group’s third-quarter results, with sales up 8% year over year to nearly 4.7 billion euros ($5.2 billion), landing 5% ahead of analysts’ expectations. In 2025, the pharma division’s sales were down 2% on a reported basis.
Prostate cancer drug Nubeqa’s 998-million-euro haul meanwhile marked a 56% jump year over year, and kidney disease therapy Kerendia recorded 374 million euros, good for a 73% increase versus the same time last year. Both drugs’ performance topped analysts’ consensus estimates, and so did Xarelto, despite a 39% decline to 377 million euros.
Nubeqa, Kerendia and asundexian are among five key growth programs for Bayer’s pharma business.
Asundexian recently got its world-first approval as a first-in-class medicine in China, and an FDA decision is imminent. The drug could however face competition from Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson’s milvexian, which recently had a phase 3 readout in stroke prevention for patients with atrial fibrillation delayed into early 2027.
Amid the strong momentum that Hartmann said “marked the starting point of a sustainable return to growth,” Bayer registered an impairment loss of 307 million euros related to Xofigo. The radiopharmaceutical has not lived up to its expectations amid fierce competition with Novartis’ Pluvicto.
Also in the cancer space, Bayer recently offloaded its aging Stivarga to Grünenthal for 375 million euros. At the time, Bayer said the deal fits its innovation-driven growth strategy, allowing the company to focus its resources on new breakthroughs.