Content about Germany

HAMBURG, Germany — Skin care brand Beiersdorf announced on Thursday that it has “continued last year’s positive trend in the first quarter of 2013.”

Organic group sales rose by 5.4%, and nominal sales increased by 2.9%, from €1,533 million to €1,577 million. The key driver for this positive performance was the double-digit sales growth recorded in emerging markets, the company stated. Consolidated profit after tax rose to €155 million.
 

ST. LOUIS — Anheuser-Busch is launching a new advertising campaign that lets Budweiser drinkers track where their beer comes from and how it's made.

The campaign features fifth-generation brewmaster Pete Kraemer, as well as five regional brewmasters. Kraemer's job is to ensure that the Budweiser brewed around the world meets the same standards; he also oversees the growing and research of barley in Colorado and hops grown in Germany. Kraemer's father, Gerhardt, a Hungarian-born German immigrant, was also a brewmaster for the company; Gerhardt Kraemer retired in 2001.

CHICAGO — Dry shampoo introductions are on the rise as the segment accounting for 3% of global shampoo launch activity in 2012, up from 1% in 2008, according to new research from Mintel Beauty & Personal Care.

HAMBURG, Germany — Global beauty company Beiersdorf — whose brands include Nivea, Eucerin and La Prairie — reported that it saw “consistent growth in 2012.”

SLOUGH, England — Reckitt Benckiser successfully wrapped up its pursuit of Schiff Nutrition on Friday with the signing of a definitive merger agreement in a deal valued at $1.4 billion. Bayer officially relinquished its proposed acquisition on the same day. 

SLOUGH, England — The battle for Schiff Nutrition is on. Reckitt Benckiser on Friday commenced its previously announced tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Schiff Nutrition — a provider of branded vitamins, nutrition supplements and nutrition bars in the United States and elsewhere — for $42 per share in cash, or approximately $1.4 billion.

PITTSBURGH — Bayer on Friday announced that it is providing monetary support for disaster relief efforts through donations totaling $150,000 from the Bayer USA Foundation. 

The American Red Cross and Save the Children will each receive $75,000. 

“When millions of people are affected by devastation in the form of natural disasters, it is important to be able to provide assistance to families and communities in a time of great need,” stated Tracy Spagnol, chairperson of the Bayer USA Foundation.

HOLZKIRCHEN, Germany — Generic drug maker Sandoz has started a late-stage clinical trial in the United States for a biosimilar treatment for anemia, the company said.

Sandoz, the generics arm of Swiss drug maker Novartis, said it had started enrolling patients for a phase-3 study of epoetin alfa, a biosimilar version of Epogen and Procrit, made by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson and used to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease.

WILTON, Conn. — Beiersdorf, the U.S. subsidiary of Beiersdorf AG — a global skin care company based in Hamburg, Germany — has announced the appointment of Bill Graham as president and general manager of Beiersdorf North America.

Graham previously served as president and general manager of Beiersdorf. His new role includes leadership of both the United States and Canadian business units.
 
Graham was promoted to the position of general manager of Beiersdorf in August 2011, after joining the company as VP sales in 2007.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo has established a joint venture with a privately held, Germany-based dairy business, through which the companies will enter the growing U.S. dairy market in mid-July with innovative premium yogurt products.

PepsiCo and Theo Muller Group said their joint venture, Muller Quaker Dairy, will launch the following yogurts:

HYDERABAD, India — A generic drug maker in India and a German pharmaceutical company will collaborate to develop biosimilars.

Dr. Reddy's Labs and Merck KGaA subsidiary Merck Serono announced a partnership to develop biosimilar cancer treatments, most of them monoclonal antibodies, for global markets. Based in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck KGaA operates in the United States under the name EMD to distinguish itself from U.S. drug maker Merck.