Bayer enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide and is internationally renowned for its expertise – as was confirmed again by numerous prizes presented to the company in 2005 and in early 2006. “These honors underscore our outstanding expertise and innovation potential in the core areas of our business,” says Bayer Management Board Chairman Werner Wenning. “We are particularly pleased whenever the knowledge and work of our employees are recognized in this way by independent external experts in Germany and around the world.” Some of the most important accolades are described below.

Aspirin® Effect was honored as a groundbreaking product innovation with the Columbus’ Egg award.		Bayer’s image campaign took a top prize in the Corporate Media 2005 competition.

Bayer received several prizes for its best-known medicine Aspirin®. The Innovation Foundation, which recognizes groundbreaking product innovations, honored Aspirin® Effect as an exemplary, particularly innovative product, presenting Bayer with the Columbus’ Egg award. Furthermore, for the fifth time in a row, Bayer HealthCare’s Aspirin® brand received the Pegasus Award in acknowledgement of the high level of consumer trust it enjoys. In what is probably Europe’s biggest consumer study to date, Reader’s Digest determined the most trustworthy brands in 14 European countries. In the pain-reliever category, Aspirin® is the clear number one in Germany with 44 percent of all votes. Bayer also received an important accolade at the beginning of 2006 for its Aspirin® production: the company’s tablet plant in Bitterfeld, Germany, was declared a “Selected Place 2006” by Germany – Land of Ideas, a joint campaign mounted by the German government and the business community. The aim is to highlight Germany’s role as a center of innovation as the country hosts the soccer World Cup.

Innovation is also the focus of the Hermes Award, which recognizes particularly novel products. Bayer Technology Services received a prize at the Hanover Trade Fair for its multi-point thermometer. The “SpectroBay MultiTemp®” uses fiberoptics to simultaneously measure both substance concentrations and temperature profiles in industrial plants.

The company also garnered high praise for its excellent communication of the corporate reorganization. Bayer AG received the German PR Prize 2005 in the category “Communications Management.” This award, the highest such accolade bestowed in the German-speaking countries, is presented by the German Public Relations Society (DPRG) and the F.A.Z. Institute for “outstandingly implemented PR planning, strategy-based communication processes and exemplary public relations.” In addition, Bayer and LANXESS received the Gold Award from PR-Report magazine for the best PR campaign of the year in recognition of the public relations activities for the LANXESS spin-off. Bayer also received two other first-place awards in the categories “Internal Communication and Change Management” and “Financial Communication and m&a Communication.”

Bayer’s corporate image film entitled “Bayer: Science For A Better Life” received the CINE Special Jury Award in the category “Professional Non-Telecast Division/Business – Sales & Promotion” at the 46th Annual CINE Golden Eagle Film and Video Awards Gala.

The company’s image campaign was also honored in the Corporate Media 2005 competition held by the Medienreport Verlag publishing house. The concept for “Bayer: Science For A Better Life” received the “Master of Excellence” award – the top prize in its category. The campaign’s television commercial and the online version of the Annual Report each received the “Award of Master.”

Bayer was honored for its achievements in the field of climate protection. The photo shows the power plant at Dormagen.		Bayer Corp. CEO Dr. A. Molnar (right) accepts the Ron Brown Award from U.S. Secretary of Commerce C. M. Gutierrez.

Bayer’s efforts in the areas of sustainable development and environmental protection have received numerous accolades: at the Climate Summit in Montreal, Bayer received the Low Carbon Leaders Award for its achievements over the past ten years in the field of climate protection. The company was rated “Best in Class” by an international jury of experts made up of representatives from politics, non-governmental organizations and industry, and appointed by The Climate Group, a climate protection organization. Bayer was the only German company to receive this rating, which is given to the five top-ranked companies. In the global climate protection ranking, Bayer was rated third among the 500 largest companies.

Bayer has also been included in the Climate Leadership Index, the first global stock index for climate protection, in recognition of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, Bayer stock is consistently listed in other sustainability indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the European Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI STOXX).

Bayer was presented with the Ron Brown Award, a U.S. presidential honor bestowed for social commitment. The company received this accolade for its “Making Science Make Sense” program, an employee initiative launched more than ten years ago to advance scientific literacy among school students.

Two renowned financial publications honored Bayer AG for its hybrid bond issue in 2005, which received high praise from experts: the magazine International Financing Review presented the company with the ifr Award 2005 in the category “Euro Investment-Grade Corporate Bond”. The British financial magazine EuroWeek honored Bayer with the illustrious Corporate Bond of the Year designation.

Award for hybrid bond issue (from left): P. Müller, J. Dietsch (Head of Corporate Finance) and H. Wuppermann.		Prize for training activities (from left): U. Menzen, German Vice Chancellor F. Müntefering and J. Peters (Head of HR).

Bayer’s investor relations activities received a number of awards. The annual BIRD Ranking for the best investor relations in Germany, performed by German business publication Börse Online, placed Bayer second in the “Blue Chips” category. The company was also among the top three in the category “Most Improved Investor Relations” at the Continental Europe Awards 2005 sponsored by IR Magazine. At the annual IR Best Practice Awards presented by Britain’s Investor Relations Society, Bayer received the European Website Award 2005. As in the previous year, Bayer ranked ahead of all the other DAX, MDAX and SDAX companies with its investor relations website in the IR Benchmark Analysis conducted by German IT communications consulting firm NetFederation Interactive Media. For the third consecutive year, the website achieved the highest overall position among 145 contenders in the IR Global Rankings compiled by MZ Consult, a U.S.-Brazilian financial communications company. In the IR Global Rankings 2006, Bayer took first place ahead of other German companies in the categories “Corporate Governance” and “Disclosure Procedure”.

Our companies in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Belgium were listed among the top employers in those countries by respected financial magazines and human resources consultants. In the United States, Bayer in 2005 was named one of the best employers for working mothers for the third time. And in Germany, Vice Chancellor Franz Müntefering awarded Bayer the Shaping Employment – Companies Demonstrate Responsibility award in the category “Prospects for Young People” in recognition of Bayer’s exceptional commitment to vocational training. The jury singled out Bayer for the award because of the special training program operated by the Training and Development Division of Bayer Industry Services for young people who lack basic educational qualifications.