110 years old yet as young as ever – Aspirin® remains a phenomenon that never fails to fascinate.

Leverkusen, February 23, 2009 – Verdi’s opera La traviata and Aspirin® have one thing in common: both of them had their first major appearance on March 6. Giuseppe Verdi celebrated the premiere of his masterpiece in Venice in 1853, while Bayer’s Aspirin® brand was registered under number 36433 in the list of trade names at the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin in 1899. While the opera initially flopped and only later brought its composer fame and fortune, the drug of the century went from strength to strength from the very first day and celebrated an unparalleled career. Thanks to a clever logistics and marketing concept, the analgesic quickly established itself as the global standard for headache, aching limbs, fever and inflammation.

Today, 110 years later, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient of Aspirin®, is the world’s more frequently used analgesic. Few substances can rival the traditional history and broad therapeutic spectrum of the world-famous Bayer product. Despite its advanced age, the grand old pharmaceutical is one of the “youngest” and most innovative drug products in existence. As a key substance in modern pharmaceutical research, ASA is the focus of numerous studies and is investigated by scientists around the globe. Every year, some 3,500 scientific papers on new mechanisms of action and indications for acetylsalicylic acid are published, frequently revealing fascinating new findings on the applications of the white substance.

Aspirin® is regarded by doctors today not only as an effective product for headache and migraine but is also used in the prevention of myocardial infarction and stroke. Aspirin® is acknowledged as the global gold standard in secondary prevention. Recent clinical trials also indicate that consumption of low-dose acetylsalicylic acid could prevent a first myocardial infarction. The active ingredient is therefore recommended for primary prevention in 38 countries. In addition, a study recently published in Italy came to the conclusion that low-dose Aspirin® can lower blood pressure. But that’s not all. Three recent studies alone confirm the positive effect of acetylsalicylic acid in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

The foundations for the miracle drug Aspirin® were laid by pharmacologist Professor Sir John R. Vane in the early 1970s. At that time, very little was known about the precise mechanism of action of the substance. In 1971, Vane succeeded in elucidating the secret of the wonder drug for the first time, thus turning Aspirin®, as he once said himself, into the “drug of the century”. The British scientist discovered that the substance’s analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects are caused by its inhibition of the synthesis of certain messenger substances (prostaglandins) in the body. His discovery paved the way for further research into every aspect of the little white tablet, and also earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine a few years later.

The triumphant global march of Aspirin® began 112 years ago on October 10, 1887 and came about as the result of a personal tragedy. A young scientist called Dr. Felix Hoffmann succeeded in synthesizing a chemically pure and stable form of acetylsalicylic acid for the first time in one of Bayer’s laboratories in Wuppertal, Germany. A new multitalented analgesic was born and was immediately put to good use for the benefit of Hoffmann's father, who had suffered for many years from painful rheumatism. His doctors prescribed him sodium salicylate, a bitter-tasting medicine. Thanks to his son's discovery, he was now able to relieve his symptoms with a more easily tolerated substance. That was the decisive breakthrough. Millions of people were to follow his example in the years to come.

With sales of more than €640 million per year, Bayer’s flagship product Aspirin® is one of the highest-selling analgesics in the world and a fixture in almost every home medicine cupboard in more than 80 countries. No other substance is produced in such large quantities anywhere in the world. If laid end to end in the form of classic 500 milligram tablets, the total quantity of acetylsalicylic acid manufactured every year would form a chain spanning the globe 150 times.

110 years old yet as young as ever – Aspirin® remains a phenomenon that never fails to fascinate. Experts agree that the miracle drug will continue to surprise and amaze scientists engaged in modern pharmaceutical research around the world. Or as Nobel prize-winner Vane would put it, “No other drug in the world has had such a fascinating and record-breaking history – a development that has not yet come to an end.”

Info box: Triumphant march of a successful brand

• 1899: Aspirin® is launched on the market in powder form. Bayer delivers the medicine to pharmacies in small 250-gram glass vials. 500 mg of the powder is then weighed out and dispensed to the customers in small paper bags. Just one year later, Bayer launches the analgesic in its classic tablet form – one of the first ever medicines to be marketed in this presentation.
• 1909: After just ten years, Bayer is already generating some 30 percent of its global sales with Aspirin® in the United States; one year later and it is already more than one third. The brand becomes one of the ten most frequently prescribed medicines in the United States.
• 1924: Aspirin® is world-famous: advertising for the Bayer product can be seen on vehicles all over the world.
• 1950: Aspirin® appears in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest-selling medicine for the first time.
• 1969: A box of Aspirin® flies to the moon on board Apollo 11.
• 1971: British pharmacologist Sir John R. Vane elucidates the mechanism of action of acetylsalicylic acid.
• 1977: A U.S. study confirms for the first time that acetylsalicylic acid can prevent stroke.
• 1997: The active ingredient of Aspirin® celebrates its centenary. The drug product has dominated the entire 20th century like no other medicine.

About Bayer HealthCare

Bayer AG is a global research-based and growth-oriented enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. The company's pharmaceuticals business operates under the name Bayer Schering Pharma. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. More information is available at www.bayerhealthcare.com.

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