Bayer AG

Merger of the major German chemical companies results in the Interessen Gemeinschaft Farbenwerke, or I.G. Farben. Bayer purchases Chiron Diagnostics, becoming one of the world's largest diagnostic system suppliers, and initiates plans to spin-off its Agfa subsidiary. Bayer traces its history to the 1863 founding of a dyestuffs factory in Barmen, Germany, a region that later became part of the industrial city of Wuppertal on the Rhine river in West Germany. The factory was set up by Friedrich Bayer and Johan Friedrich Weskott, a master dyer. Only two years later, the men commenced global operations of sorts, acquiring a share in a U.S. coal tar dye factory and exporting the product. Subsequent expansion included a new factory in Moscow. By 1881, the growing company was being run by heirs of Bayer and Weskott, and they reorganized the concern as Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co., a joint-stock company. A plant in northern France was established in 1883 and others throughout the homeland of Germany followed. In 1884, chemist Carl Duisberg joined the company; he would oversee a period of remarkable innovation at Bayer. Expanding beyond the development and manufacture of dyestuffs, the company established a pharmaceutical department in 1888. Although Bayer became a world leader in dyestuffs, its place in the history of early 20th-century chemistry was secured by its contributions to pharmacology. Specifically, at the turn of the century a Bayer chemist, Felix Hoffman, became the first to synthesize acetylsalicylic acid into a usable form. The result, aspirin, was patented in 1899 and went on to become the most popular pain reliever worldwide. Moreover, in 1908, the basic compound for sulfa drugs was synthesized in Bayer laboratories. The immediate application of the compound was a reddish orange dye, which was soon discovered to be effective against pneumonia, a major health hazard of the early 20th century. Despite the lives that could have been saved if the sulfa drug had been released throughout Europe immediately, Bayer held onto the formula. Frustrated French chemists were forced to duplicate the drug in their own laboratories in order to introduce it to the market. In 1912, Bayer moved its headquarters to Leverkusan, where they would remain into the 21st century. Bayer chemists regularly tested dye compounds for their effectiveness against bacteria. In 1921, they discovered a cure for African sleeping sickness, an infectious disease that had made parts of Africa uninhabitable. Aware of the political as well as pharmacological implications of its compound, Bayer offered the British the formula to the drug, known as Germanin, in exchange for African colonies. Britain declined the offer. Non-cooperation continued as during World War I Bayer deprived the Allies of drugs and anesthetics whenever possible. In 1925, Duisberg, who had become president of Bayer, organized a merger of the major German chemical companies into a single entity known as the Interessen Gemeinschaft Farbenwerke, or I.G. Farben. From their inception, the German chemical companies had been organized into a series of progressively more powerful trusts, but with I.G. Farben, the last vestiges of competition in the chemical industry were extinguished. Other industries, such as steel, were undergoing a similar process in Germany. In addition to setting quotas and pooling profits, I.G. Farben pursued political aims, working to prevent any possibility of a leftist uprising that would establish worker control over industry. In order to prevent such an uprising, I.G. Farben financed right-wing politicians and attempted to influence domestic policy in secret meetings with German leaders. The trust also exercised its influence abroad, with Bayer and other companies contributing an estimated ten million marks to Nazi Party associations in other countries. Money was also designated for propaganda. In 1938, Bayer forced a U.S. affiliate, Sterling Drug, to writ