Tecan burnt by the Latin heat, VSM coolly strides forward in 2002
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Bayer's chairman, Werner Wenning, said he was not satisfied with the business trend in 2002, when the company suffered high one-off costs for acquiring Aventis CropScience, and felt the damaging effects of the high-profile Lipobay/Baycol pharmaceutical product withdrawal amid safety concerns. Although Bayer is seeking a partner for its troubled pharma division, such a tactic does not seem to be in the pipeline for diagnostics, despite the unit's sluggish sales. Diagnostics sales growth was 2% in 2002, to E2,039m ($2,168m), driven mainly by laboratory diagnostic systems and nucleic acid diagnostics. This figure represents less than 7% of total group revenues. The Ascensia Elite blood glucose monitor was Bayer Healthcare's fourth best-selling product in 2002, with sales of E515m (+5%), while the ADVIA Centaur System for large laboratories was sixth, with sales of E340m (+31%).