New Seresto® Keeps Ticks and Fleas at bay Month After Month

Birmingham, England (ots/PRNewswire) -

Not Intended For UK Media

New collar from Bayer Animal Health offers dogs and cats an
unparalleled protection period of up to eight months from ticks and
fleas in a single treatment

Bayer Animal Health today launched Seresto (known as Foresto in
some European markets*), the latest in a long line of innovative
anti-parasite products from one of the world's leading animal health
companies. The Seresto collar gives outstanding protection against
fleas and ticks for up to 8 months from a single application. Seresto
is the first new treatment in more than a decade to offer combined
tick and flea protection for both cats and dogs, and as the first
product to offer repellency against ticks for cats as well as dogs,
Seresto helps to reduce the risk of vector-borne disease transmission
from these parasites.

Dr. Helmut Pinsenschaum, veterinary surgeon from Münchsteinach,
Germany spoke of the launch of Seresto, "This is the first time we
have had a product that can offer protection from both ticks and
fleas for as long as eight months with a single application. This
level of long-term efficacy is completely new, and the fact that you
can also use the same treatment for both cats and dogs makes it a
real game changer for both vets and our patients."

Seresto represents a major advance in the development of
anti-parasitic treatments. Through the integration of a unique
polymer matrix it slowly releases controlled doses of two proven
active ingredients - imidacloprid and flumethrin - that together are
proven to be highly effective treatments for ticks and fleas,
ensuring the animal always receives just the right dose for optimal
protection.

Experience with the use of Seresto is expected to have a
significant impact on the treatment recommendations of many
veterinarians.Dr. Adriana Estrela, a veterinarian from Portugal who
participated in the clinical studies with Seresto saw a change in her
practice: "I didn't use to recommend collars. Instead I would
recommend monthly application of spot-ons, which are great products,
but we often had to remind people that the product had to be applied
every month to remain effective. Sometimes forgetting for a week or
two was enough for the animal to become infested again. The truth is
that with Seresto everything changed - now we apply Seresto and we
know that for the next eight months we don't need to worry."

The launch of Seresto comes as veterinarians worldwide are seeing
changes in the patterns of parasite risk for pets. Dr. Ferenc
Szaniszlo, a veterinary surgeon from Hungary experienced these
changes first hand, "In our practice, over the last twenty years we
have seen more and more tick infestations and more and more
infections transmitted by ticks. And these cases aren't just
happening in the traditional tick seasons, or in remote forest areas,
so it is critical that we ensure all our dogs and cats are protected
all year round." Dr. Francois Laurent, a veterinarian from France,
echoes this sentiment: "We know that the animals that we treat are
exposed to the constant presence of ticks and fleas throughout the
year, so we recommend antiparasiticides are used all year long. In
our experience, Seresto is a simple, effective, long-term solution,
and even our most sceptical customers have been won over by the
benefits they have seen."

Ute Schucht from Germany, a dog owner involved in the
field-trials of Seresto, is convinced of the benefits of using
Seresto. "My dog Nero loves to spend time in the woods. Before, it
didn't matter what we tried, often he would still come home with
ticks in his fur and they would sometimes drop off in the house.
Since we started using Seresto two years ago we have not faced this
typical problem. It's great, now with Seresto we know that he is
protected from fleas and ticks wherever he goes. Nero's brother Luka
lives near us, but he wasn't involved in the trial, so his owners
kept using the same treatments we used to. Unfortunately that means
that when we walk the dogs in the woods, Luka often still collects
ticksbut Nero is well protected for a long time."

Online media centre

For access to supporting media materials, please visit:
http://www.epresspack.net/seresto

About Seresto

Seresto is available as a collar in two sizes that can be worn by
both cats and dogs. It has been designed to stay securely in place
for an up to eight month period while ensuring safety from
strangulation.

Seresto is unique in including both a leading insecticide,
imidacloprid and the highly effective acaricideflumethrin. These
compounds are embedded in an innovative waterproof, odour-free collar
made of a polymer matrix that ensures that the active ingredients are
consistently released over an up to eight month period at an
effective, low dose.

About ticks and fleas

Tick and flea infestations are more than just a nuisance; they
also pose a very real threat to both pets and humans as they can
transmit serious diseases. These diseases have become more frequently
diagnosed and more geographically widespread, increasing both the
danger posed to pets and the risk posed to humans.

Fleas are the most common ectoparasite in cats and dogs and are
capable of spreading and/or causing a number of diseases that affect
cats, dogs and humans, including tapeworm, flea allergy dermatitis
(FAD), bartonellosis and endemic typhus.

Diseases spread by ticks include anaplasmosis, Lyme borreliosis,
babesiosis and ehrlichiosis, many of which can cause serious diseases
in humans.

In dogs, many of these diseases can be lethal and cannot yet be
treated, meaning that prevention is key to their management. The most
effective disease prevention technique is to stop parasites from
biting, removing any possibility of disease transmission.

The ability of a treatment to prevent biting is commonly referred
to as 'repellency' (anti-feeding) - products that offer repellency,
like Seresto, have been demonstrated in field studies to reduce the
risk of disease transmission.

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 subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 17.2
billion (2011), 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, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals
divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover, develop,
manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal
health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 55,700
employees (Dec 31, 2011) and is represented in more than 100
countries. Find more information at http://www.bayerhealthcare.com

With a turnover of EUR 1.190 million (2011) Bayer HealthCare's
Animal Health Division is one of the world's leading manufacturers of
veterinary drugs. The division manufactures and markets more than 100
different veterinary drugs and care products for livestock and
companion animals.

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.

*. BG, CZ, EE, HU, LT, LV, PL, RO, SK, SI

ots Originaltext: Bayer Animal Health
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Contact: Kathrin Statz, Kathrin.Statz@bayer.com,
+49-2173-38-40-19