Bayer is a pharmaceutical and chemical company formed in 1863 in Barmen (currently part of Wuppertal), Germany by Friedrich Bayer and founding partner Johann Friedrich Weskott. At present, its main office is located in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Known for having its own brand of aspirin, Bayer is the third biggest pharmaceutical business in the world.

The company’s first product was the acetylsalicylic acid, which was initially discovered in 1853 by the French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt. Acetylsalicylic acid is a modified version of salicin or salicylic acid, a folk medication that comes from a willow plant’s bark. In 1899, the Aspirin trademark was registered globally for the company’s brand of acetylsalicylic acid. Despite losing its trademark status in France, the United States, as well as the United Kingdom during World War I, in more than 80 nations like Mexico, Switzerland, Canada and Germany, it remains a registered trademark of Bayer.

By 1904, Bayer introduced the Bayer cross that since then has been the company logo. Since its trademark aspirin was exclusively sold through doctors and pharmacists, and with Bayer not being able to put its packaging on the medication, the cross was embedded on each of the tables so as consumers would associate the company with it.

Apart from aspirin, which acts as an analgesic, anti-coagulant and anti-fever drug, some of Bayer’s discovered drugs are:

• Suramin
• Protonsil – the first sulfonamide
• Polycarbonate – the material found in a compact disc
• Levitra – a remedy for erectile dysfunction
• Parathion and Propoxur – both act as insecticides
• Polyurethane – an extremely multipurpose polymer that has various uses
• Ciprofloxacin – an antibiotic that remedies urinary tract infections (UTIs) and anthrax infections