Bayer CEO says tougher cash outlook will be considered in overhaul By Reuters
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo and flags of Bayer AG are pictured outside a factory of the German pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer in Wuppertal, Germany August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Bayer’s strategic review will take into account a potentially tougher cash flow outlook, its CEO said on Tuesday, after the German conglomerate suffered a major setback in its development of drugs.
The group aborted a large late-stage trial Sunday evening testing a new anticoagulant drug due to a lack of effectiveness, casting doubt on its most promising development project and worsening litigation and debt problems.
“Anything that negatively affects future cash flow just makes it a little tighter,” CEO Bill Anderson said on a call with analysts Tuesday.
“The impact of these recent events does not change our strategic options. It might just mean that some of these conditions are a little more stringent,” said Anderson, who said he is considering a breakup of the pharmaceutical maker. over-the-counter treatments and products for farmers.
He gave the example that a potential sale of the consumer products unit to an industry rival would generate more cash, and more quickly, than a partial stock spinoff and a gradual sale of the remaining shares over time. time.
Pharmaceuticals chief Stefan Oelrich said on the call that when reviewing the halted trial, his team was surprised by a “marked difference” in the effectiveness of Asundexian’s experimental anticoagulant. Bayer versus Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:) and Pfizer (NYSE:) created Eliquis.
The maximum sales potential of more than 5 billion euros would be revised downwards, but plans to bring the product to market in 2026 remain in place, albeit for a smaller group of patients, Oelrich added.
