Eye on the medicine ball

Earlier this year, Bayer fought off fellow German drugmaker Merck to snap up Schering for just under €17 billion.

The aim of the takeover, part of a frenzy of pharma consolidation, was to bolster its drugs pipeline and gain greater economies of scale.

Now Bayer, like many of its peers, is under pressure to successfully integrate the material acquisition.

Today, it impressed the market with a 26 per cent increase in sales, driven by the inaugural contribution of Schering products. A star performer was Schering’s Yasmin contraceptive.

Even a 37 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to €387 million surpassed expectations. Again, this was affected by Schering, with Bayer booking €100 million in integration costs - and these costs will rise further.

But problems remain within Bayer’s existing businesses. Its kidney cancer drug Nexavar has significantly underperformed Pfizer’s rival product despite being first to market.