Prothioconazole and fluoxastrobin receive marketing authorization in the important French market

Innovative active ingredients to control fungal infections in cereals

Friday - August 11, 2006 - Monheim (Germany) – Bayer CropScience has received marketing authorization for its active ingredients prothioconazole and fluoxastrobin in France, the biggest cereal fungicides market in the world. This means that both substances can be supplied to distributors this year and will be available in good time for the spring 2007 season.

Prothioconazole and fluoxastrobin are both products of Bayer CropScience’s successful research and development pipeline and are some of the most promising active ingredients in the fungicides portfolio. Global sales of prothioconazole alone reached EUR 58 million in the first quarter of 2006, making it one of Bayer CropScience’s fastest-growing substances. A broad application window, rapid uptake of the active substance by the plant, good rainfastness and long-lasting activity combine to create a new dimension in the control of plant diseases.

The company plans to market the two substances in France as a combination product for spray application to cereals under the tradename Fandango® S. It also intends to market prothioconazole in two combipacks: as an Input® pack (prothioconazole + spiroxamine) and as a Madison® pack (prothioconazole + trifloxystrobin). The spectrum of activity primarily encompasses leaf diseases, particularly leaf spot caused by Septoria tritici. The current development of resistance by this major cereal disease to strobilurins leaves users with few alternative modes of action. Products based on prothioconazole can be used as part of an effective resistance management program to control Septoria tritici and all diseases that affect the leaves, stem base and ear of cereals.

Prothioconazole, a member of the new class of triazolinethiones, was first approved in Germany in 2004 under the trademark Proline® and rapidly secured a large market share. Since then, users in a further 16 countries have been persuaded by the product’s outstanding protective and curative action, and sales have grown well in the financially important fungicides market. The strobilurin fungicide fluoxastrobin was launched in 2005 in combination with prothioconazole as Fandango® in Germany, the UK and Ireland and is already well-established, particularly in barley.

Prothioconazole and fluoxastrobin are the result of intensive research and development work. Between 2000 and 2005, Bayer CropScience brought as many as 16 new active substances to market. A further 10 are expected to follow between 2006 and 2011. In total, the company believes that potential sales for its 26 new active substances could amount to approximately EUR 2 billion.

Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6 billion, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com


Forward-looking statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer CropScience AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of Bayer CropScience AG or our holding company Bayer AG and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in public reports filed by Bayer AG with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including Form 20-F). Neither Bayer AG nor Bayer CropScience AG assumes any liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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