Bayer including pneumonia and tuberculosis. Bayer scientists were not the first to make heroin, but the company led the way in commercializing it. "Heroin" was a Bayer trademark until after World War I. In 1903 Bayer licensed the patent for the hypnotic drug diethylbarbituric acid from its inventors Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering. It was marketed under the trade name Veronal as a sleep aid beginning in 1904. Systematic investigations of the effect of structural changes on potency and duration of action at Bayer led to the discovery of phenobarbital in 1911 and the discovery of its potent anti-epileptic activity
Bayer which occurred with a tenfold greater frequency in patients treated with Baycol in comparison to those prescribed alternate medications of the statin class. Trasylol (aprotinin), used to control bleeding during major surgery, was withdrawn from the market worldwide in 2007 when reports of increased mortality emerged; it was later re-introduced in Europe but not in the US. In 2014 pharmaceutical products contributed €12.05 billion of Bayer's €40.15 billion in gross revenue. Top-selling products included: Bayer produces various fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and some crop varieties. In 1994 Bayer AG purchased Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter (OTC) drug business from SmithKline Beecham and merged