Following the economic and legal separation of Covestro, Bayer announced Sept. 18 that it is charting the course for its successful development as a Life Science company.

On Sept. 18, the supervisory board approved the reorganization proposed by the board of management. From Jan. 1, 2016, the company's business will be managed by three divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Crop Science.

The present structure of a strategic management holding company and operational subgroups will be replaced by an integrated organization under the umbrella of the strong Bayer brand, the announcement said.

"The aim of the new organization is to provide the best-possible support to Bayer's strategy as a leading life science company and to put ourselves in an even stronger position vis-a-vis our competitors. We can achieve this by further improving our innovation strength, sharpening our customer focus and strengthening business process excellence," Dr. Marijn Dekkers, chair of the board of management of Bayer AG, said.

In the new organization, the board of management of Bayer AG will also hold overall responsibility for business operations. For this reason, the supervisory board resolved to appoint the heads of the divisions — Dieter Weinand (Pharmaceuticals), Erica Mann (Consumer Health) and Liam Condon (Crop Science) — to the board of management effective Jan. 1, 2016.

"In recent years, Bayer has continued developing its portfolio with a significant focus on the Life Sciences. The company’s very strong position at this time enables it to concentrate exclusively on these businesses. The logical conclusion of this is greater integration of the organization," said Werner Wenning, chairman of the supervisory board.

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As part of the reorganization, the Bayer HealthCare subgroup will be dissolved. The Radiology business will be assigned to the Pharmaceuticals Division. Consumer Health will comprise the present Consumer Care Division. The Bayer CropScience subgroup will become the Crop Science Division. As a business unit, Animal Health will report directly to Condon, who also oversees Crop Science.

This greater integration will also be reflected in Bayer’s brand architecture. In the future, the company will focus exclusively on the Bayer corporate brand and its product brands. The divisions will not have separate brand identities.

According to the announcement, the future product portfolio of the Pharmaceuticals Division brings together prescription medicines from the general medicine and specialty pharmaceuticals categories and also the Radiology business. The Consumer Health Division will encompass globally known consumer brands from the allergy, analgesic, cardiovascular risk prevention, cough, cold and flu, dermatology, foot care, gastrointestinal, dietary supplement and sun protection categories. The Crop Science Division — Bayer’s agriculture business — is active in the seed, chemical and biological crop protection and non-agricultural pest control markets. Animal Health provides products and solutions to prevent and treat diseases in companion and farm animals.