LEVERKUSEN, Germany, February 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Association of German Medical Journalists and Bayer HealthCare Honor Outstanding Reporting on Renal Cancer

- Deadline for application: March 25, 2009

Bayer HealthCare and the Association of German Medical Journalists (VDMJ) have jointly announced the 2009 Advances in Renal Cancer Journalists' Award Europe, which will honor journalists who have dealt with the issue of renal cancer in a critical and objective manner. The award, endowed with EUR 7,500, is donated by Bayer HealthCare. Eligible for the award are printed media, radio, television and film reports.

Journalists may submit their applications by March 25, 2009 to the business address of the Association of German Medical Journalists (Verband Deutscher Medizin Journalisten), Chemnitzer Str. 21, D-70597 Stuttgart. Its statutes can be viewed at http://www.journalistenvereinigung.de . This information is also available in PDF format in the download area of Bayer HealthCare's Internet website at http://www.viva.vita.bayerhealthcare.com

The relevant stories must have been published between March 1, 2008 and March 25, 2009. A jury will decide which journalistic report has best covered the topic of renal cancer in Europe.

The jury comprises four representatives from journalistic organizations and Professor Peter Mulders, Department of Urology, University Medical Center St. Radboud, Nijmwegen (the Netherlands), Dr. Bernard Escudier, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif (France) and one non-voting representive from the sponsor. The award will be presented May 8, 2009 in Berlin at the EU-KCO Symposium (Fourth European International Kidney Cancer Symposium - http://www.kidneycancersymposium.com).

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Bayer Schering Pharma, Consumer Care and Medical Care divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide.

Find more information at http://www.bayerhealthcare.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This 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 website at http://www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Contact: Helmut Schäfers Tel: +49(0)214-30-58308 E-mail: helmut.schaefers@bayerhealthcare.com Find more information at http://www.bayer.com. hs (2009-0070e)

Contact: Helmut Schäfers, Tel: +49(0)214-30-58308, E-mail: helmut.schaefers@bayerhealthcare.com