Bayer China Research Collaboration Awards 2023 Announced

● Scientists from Tsinghua University and Peking University have been awarded the "Bayer Chair Professor" and "Bayer Research Fellow" awards.

● Bayer's strategic research collaborations with Tsinghua University and Peking University have entered their 15th and 10th years, respectively.

● To date, more than 200 Chinese scientists have received relevant awards and funding.

Beijing, April 24, 2024 — Recently, Bayer, in collaboration with Peking University and Tsinghua University, announced the 2023 Bayer China Research Cooperation Awards. These include several significant awards such as the "Bayer Distinguished Professor," "Bayer Research Fellow," "Bayer Research Translation Fund," and "Bayer Postdoctoral Fellowship."¹The Bayer China Research Cooperation Award aims to recognize and support outstanding scholars who have made卓越 contributions in the fields of life sciences, medicine, and drug research and development through close collaboration with top universities in China. This initiative strengthens communication and cooperation between the pharmaceutical industry and academia, promotes the application of basic scientific research in new drug development, and thereby enables research achievements to benefit patients at an earlier date.

This year, Professor Liu Lei from the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University was honored with the "Bayer Chair Professor." Meanwhile, after evaluation by a joint steering committee composed of Bayer experts and senior scholars from these two top Chinese universities, eleven scientists from Peking University and Tsinghua University were awarded the 2023 "Bayer Research Fellow." Professor Liu Gang from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tsinghua University, Professor Chang Zhijie and Researcher Chen Mo from the School of Medicine received funding from the 2023 "Bayer Research Translation Fund" to carry out research projects. Additionally, five outstanding young scholars from Peking University were awarded the 2023 "Bayer Postdoctoral Fellowship."

 Dr. Juergen Eckhardt and Professor Wang Hongwei presented the "Bayer Chair Professor" to Professor Liu Lei of the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University.

Dr. Juergen Eckhardt, Executive Vice President of Bayer AG, Head of Leaps by Bayer, and Head of Global Business Development & Licensing for Bayer's Pharmaceuticals Division, stated: "We are delighted to see the outstanding achievements made by Chinese scientists in the field of research. China has become a significant innovative driving force in the life sciences sector. Bayer’s long-term collaborations with Tsinghua University and Peking University fully demonstrate our commitment to promoting innovation through external partnerships. We look forward to continuing to explore more diverse and innovative cooperation models in China, fostering early-stage innovation, and accelerating the translation of scientific breakthroughs into innovative therapies, thereby benefiting patients' lives."

As an important component of its long-term commitment in China, Bayer places high importance on and continuously focuses on local scientific research collaboration, strongly supporting China's original innovation and the transformation of new drug research and development. In 2009 and 2014, respectively, Bayer established long-term strategic research collaborations with Tsinghua University and Peking University. These not only pioneered research cooperation between multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese academic institutions but also set a model for the collaborative development and innovative cooperation of "industry-academia-research."

Bayer Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Research Collaboration with Tsinghua University and 10th Anniversary with Peking University

"As a member of the Joint Steering Committee and the recipient of the 2018 'Bayer Distinguished Professor' award, Professor Wang Hongwei, Vice President of Tsinghua University, stated: 'Over the years, the project collaborations between Bayer and Tsinghua University, as well as Peking University, have steadily advanced, with rich and diverse academic exchanges. The cooperation between both parties has become a model for multinational university-enterprise collaboration in the life sciences and pharmaceutical fields. We hope to continue deepening our strategic partnership with Bayer in the future. On one hand, we aim to promote the deep integration of industry, academia, and research, strengthen the transformation of achievements, actively foster open scientific and technological cooperation, and continuously achieve close alignment between overseas enterprises and domestic universities, as well as between fundamental research and translational applications. On the other hand, we look forward to both sides playing an active role in building a high-level innovative talent pool. Guided by a spirit of truth-seeking and exploration, we will continue to innovate collaboratively, jointly address global challenges, and contribute to the advancement of human health!'"

Professor Wu Hong, a professor at Peking University and a senior researcher at the Peking University-Tsinghua University Joint Center for Life Sciences, has been a member of the Bayer China Research Cooperation Joint Steering Committee since 2014. She stated: "Since 2014, Peking University and Bayer have collaborated in the areas of attracting top talent, academic exchange, and scientific research innovation, achieving fruitful results. Of the 59 top talents introduced in the biopharmaceutical field, 17 received support from Bayer. Nearly 30 research cooperation projects have not only published high-level articles but also jointly applied for international patents, with one transformation result entering Phase II clinical trials. As a university, Peking University has been actively integrating internal and external resources, shouldering the historical responsibility of technological innovation through discipline construction and talent cultivation. We hope that both parties can continue to work together to promote the development of biopharmaceuticals under the common goal of improving human health, ultimately benefiting patients in China and around the world."

Bayer Joint Steering Committee members Dr. Ulrich Nielsch and Professor Wu Hong presented the "Bayer Researcher" award to the Peking University winner.

As of April 2024, more than 200 top Chinese scientists and young scholars have received awards such as the "Bayer Distinguished Professor" and "Bayer Research Fellow." In November 2023, Professor Songhai Shi and Professor Yan Ning, recipients of the "Bayer Distinguished Professor," and Professor Zemin Zhang, a recipient of the "Bayer Research Fellow," were elected as the latest academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, playing a significant role in advancing scientific progress, fostering innovation, and promoting the development of China's scientific community.

To date, Bayer has launched over 100 research projects in collaboration with the two aforementioned research institutions. These projects cover a wide range of areas including the discovery and structural analysis of new targets, studies on disease pathogenesis and drug mechanisms, drug screening, efficacy evaluation, exploration of new molecular formats and chemical synthesis methods, innovative formulation development, and span multiple disease fields such as oncology and cardiovascular diseases.

Bayer, as a multinational enterprise, possesses core competencies in the fields of health and agriculture within the life sciences sector. Guided by the mission of "Health for All, Hunger for None," the company is committed to helping people overcome major challenges posed by global population growth and aging through its products and services, benefiting humanity and fostering the prosperity of our planet. Bayer is dedicated to advancing sustainability and positively impacting its business operations. At the same time, the group enhances profitability and creates value through technological innovation and business growth. Globally, the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability, and quality. In the 2023 fiscal year, Bayer employed approximately 100,000 people and generated sales of 47.6 billion euros. Research and development expenditure, excluding special items, amounted to 5.8 billion euros. For more information, please seewww.bayer.com。

*Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements by the Bayer management team based on current assumptions and forecasts. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could cause the company's actual operational results, financial condition, development, or performance to differ materially from the estimates provided in these forward-looking statements. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports available on the company’s official website at www.bayer.com. The company does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements or align them with future events or developments.