Embargoed until 5 pm Wednesday the night before NEJM publishes these articles

Standby Statement For use only upon request Bayer Responds to BART Study Article and Editorial Published in NEJM May 14, 2008, Leverkusen, Germany; West Haven, Connecticut, USA – Bayer is aware that an article and accompanying editorial have been published in the May 14, 2008 on-line edition of the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the efficacy and safety of Trasylol (aprotinin injection), a Bayer drug used in patients at an increased risk of blood loss and blood transfusion while undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Trasylol, currently under temporary market suspension worldwide, continues to be available in some countries under special access programs as reviewed and agreed to with the relevant regulatory bodies in those markets. The article authored by Dr. Dean Fergusson, M.H.A., Ph.D, Paul C. Hebert, M.D., M.H.Sc. (lead investigators of the Canadian-based BART study) et al, is entitled “A Comparison of Aprotinin and Lysine Analogues in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery”. The editorial, entitled, The Aprotinin Story – Is BART the Final Chapter?” is authored by Wayne A. Ray, Ph.D and C. Michael Stein, M.B., Ch.B. The BART study was a randomized clinical trial in patients undergoing one of the following high-risk cardiac surgical procedures for which cardiopulmonary bypass was required: repeat cardiac surgery, isolated mitral-valve replacement, combined valve and CABG ...