Aspirin, a derivative of salicylic acid, was patented in 1900 by Germany's Bayer AG.

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Some of the companies that compete in these segment of health care incolde Bayer AG (BAYRY), Roche Holdings (RAHBY), and Abbott Laboratories (ABT).

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So why then was a British conglomerate eager to pay five times sales and compete in a bidding war with German Pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG for the prize of the lumbering Schiff Nutrition?

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The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ealier this week refused to reconsider its earlier decision to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Bayer AG of paying rivals to stay out of the generic Cipro market.

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In the 1990s several big pharmaceutical firms, including Bayer AG of Germany, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, formed alliances with Chinese research institutes or companies that specialized in traditional Chinese medicines, aiming to apply modern drug-hunting techniques to screen Chinese herbal medicines for potential Western blockbusters.

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In the 1990s several big pharmaceutical firms, including Bayer (nyse: BAY - news - people ) AG of Germany, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, formed alliances with Chinese research institutes or companies that specialized in traditional Chinese medicines, aiming to apply modern drug-hunting techniques to screen Chinese herbal medicines for potential Western blockbusters.

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