BAYN

Bayer AG

A German life-science giant that makes prescription medicines, over-the-counter health brands like Aspirin, Claritin, and Alka-Seltzer, plus seeds and crop protection for farmers. It began in 1863 as a dye-making shop in Barmen founded by Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott, later merging with rivals to form I.G. Farben before re-emerging on its own after World War II. Bayer's chemist Felix Hoffmann created the first stable form of acetylsalicylic acid in 1897, and the "Aspirin" name blends "acetyl" with Spiraea, the meadowsweet plant that yields the drug's key ingredient.