Schering AG

Schering AG was a research-centered German pharmaceutical company. It was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering (1824-1889) and merged with Bayer's pharma sector in December 2006. The company's headquarters was in Berlin-Wedding, Germany. In North America, Schering operated mainly under the Berlex Laboratories brand.

At the time of the merger, the company employed more than 26,000 people in 140 subsidiaries worldwide. Schering's annual gross revenue was nearly € 5 billion (2003).

Schering AG focused on the business areas of gynaecology, andrology, multiple sclerosis, oncology, and contrast agents. Schering best-known products are probably its brands of combined oral contraceptive pills. Other key products included the interferon-beta brand Betaferon (Betaseron in North America) and the paramagnetic contrast agent Magnevist.

The largest German manufacturing facility was located in Bergkamen.

Bayer's Takeover Bid
On March 13, 2006, Merck KGaA announced a €14.6 bn bid for Schering. Merck's takeover bid was surpassed by Bayer's €16.5 bn white-knight bid for Schering on March 23, 2006. In June 2006 Bayer finally bought the majority of shares, over 90%. A domination agreement using the code name "Step One" was used for the take-over. As a result of the take-over by Bayer, Schering AG merged with Bayer's pharmaceutical sector to form Bayer Schering Pharma AG in December 2006. On February 17, 2007 the company publicly announced that 1,000 jobs would be cut through voluntary redundancy from the Berlin operations with effect until March 2008. In 2011 the name Bayer Schering Pharma was changed into Bayer Healthcare, thus removing the last traces of Schering from the company formed in the merger in 2006.