Bayer Honors Patients with Rare Diseases on 7th Annual Rare Disease Day

WHIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer HealthCare is joining the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and other patient groups in support of Rare Disease Day, February 28, 2015, which is designed to increase awareness of rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives.

A rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans.^[1] Rare Disease Day 2015 activities by Bayer include participation in state government awareness events and employee engagement via an educational campaign on the importance of early detection of rare diseases.  These include areas of research focus for Bayer, such as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), hemophilia A, liver cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. 

"We are happy to have Bayer join us in recognizing Rare Disease Day," said NORD President and CEO Peter L. Saltonstall. "There is strength in numbers: by joining together, people suffering from rare diseases can raise awareness of issues important to our community, such as the need for access to critical treatments and, in many cases, for early diagnosis."

"At Bayer, we are committed to researching and developing treatments that address difficult-to-treat and rare diseases," said Dario Mirski, MD, Vice President and Head, U.S. Medical Affairs, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals.

Launched in 2008 by EURORDIS, the European Rare Disease Organization, and its Council of National Alliances, Rare Disease Day is now sponsored by NORD in the U.S., and is observed by countries around the world. Last year participation reached a record-breaking 84 countries.

For more information about Rare Disease Day activities in the U.S., visit RareDiseaseDay.us. For more information about events worldwide, visit RareDiseaseDay.org.

About Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. is the U.S.-based pharmaceuticals business of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a subsidiary of Bayer AG. Bayer HealthCare is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry, and combines the activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care, and Pharmaceuticals divisions. As a specialty pharmaceutical company, Bayer HealthCare provides products for General Medicine, Hematology, Neurology, Oncology and Women's Healthcare. The company's aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human health worldwide by diagnosing, preventing and treating diseases.

Bayer^® and the Bayer Cross^® are registered trademarks of Bayer. 

Forward Looking Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup 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 the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer Web site at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

¹ http://rarediseases.org/rare-disease-information/rare-diseases .

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SOURCE Bayer HealthCare

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