Industry Pharmaceutical Defunct 2006 Founded 1851 Ceased operations December 29, 2006 | Fate Merged Number of employees 26,000 | |
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Key people Hubertus Erlen, last CEO Parent organizations Schering-Plough, P.T. Schering Plough Indonesia | ||
Schering AG was a research-centered German multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Wedding, Berlin, which operated as an independent company from 1851 to 2006. In 2006 it was bought by Bayer AG and merged to form the Bayer subsidiary Bayer Schering Pharma AG, which was renamed Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals in 2011. Schering was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and had 26,000 employees as of 2004.
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The American pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough, formerly the Schering Corporation, was originally the US subsidiary of Schering AG, and merged with Merck & Co. in 2009.
History
It was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering (1824–1889) and merged with Bayer's pharmaceutical division in December 2006. The company's headquarters was in Berlin-Wedding, Germany (part of West Berlin during the Cold War). In North America, Schering operated mainly under the Berlex Laboratories brand.
At the time of the merger, the company employed more than 26,000 people in 140 subsidiaries worldwide. Schering's annual gross revenue was nearly €5 billion (2003).
Schering AG focused on the business areas of gynaecology, andrology, multiple sclerosis, oncology, and contrast agents. Schering best-known products are probably its brands of combined oral contraceptive pills. Other key products included the interferon-beta brand Betaferon (Betaseron in North America) and the paramagnetic contrast agent Magnevist.
The largest German manufacturing facility was located in Bergkamen.
Bayer takeover
In March 2006, Merck KGaA announced a €14.6bn bid for Schering, which by 2006 had annual gross revenue of around €5 billion and employed about 26,000 people in 140 subsidiaries worldwide. Bayer responded with a white knight bid and in July acquired the majority of shares of Schering for €14.6bn, and in 2007, Bayer took over Schering AG and formed Bayer Schering Pharma. The acquisition of Schering was the largest take-over in Bayer's history, and as of 2015 this was one of the ten biggest pharma mergers of all time.