Bayer managing board member Werner Bauman, recently named to head the HealthCare sub-group, has vowed to fight for the independence of Germany's largest drugmaker after the carve-out of its plastics unit.

The German group's position in the international pharmaceutical market, its strategy to avoid being embroiled in the sector's takeover battles and possible plans for another split of the group after the upcoming separation of the MaterialScience plastics sub-group were the subject of journalist questioning at the annual results press conference on Feb. 26.

"We will always try anew every day to defend our independence through our performance and the decisions that we make," the 52-year-old executive told the news agency Reuters, adding that Bayer does not need a merger to make it more successful, even if there are few synergies between the healthcare, veterinary drugs and crop protection businesses.

Baumann said the group was getting "good initial results" from early-stage research across its life science units, which costs a double-digit million euro amount per year, but added that this was not the reason for keeping the businesses under one roof.

"Synergies per se are no raison d'etre for organizational structures and businesses," Baumann said.

In the past, CEO Marijn Dekkers - who plans to leave Bayer when his contract ends in two years - has stressed the research synergies to be gained between the various life sciences. Baumann, a former group finance chief, is seen as having played key roles in folding Roche's consumer health unit and rival drugmaker Schering into Bayer.

That Schering itself was drawn into the fold is directly attributable to an earlier wave of takeovers in the pharmaceutical industry. The Berlin-based drugmaker sought out Bayer as a "white knight" to shake free of a hostile takeover attempt by compatriot drugmaker Merck KGaA.

Prior to the Merck bear hug, Schering had removed a clause from its voting rules that limited the rights of a single shareholder to 20% of capital. Then-CEO Giuseppe Vita said he didn't believe Schering would be a takeover candidate because of its specialized portfolio, at the time focused primarily on gynecology.

Schering's then blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Betaferon/Betaseron proved to be of great interest to other drugmakers, however.