No C 57/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 3. 90 
Notice pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Council Regulation No 17 (') concerning a request for the 
extension of an exemption pursuant to Article 85 (3) of the EEC Treaty Case No IV/27.073 — 
Bayer/Gist-Brocades 
(90/C 57/04) 
1. On 15 December 1975 the Commission took Deci­
sion 76/172/EEC (2) in which, pursuant to Article 
85 (3), the provisions of Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty 
were declared inapplicable to the agreements relating to 
the manufacture and distribution of raw penicillin and 
6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA), made on 7 May 1969 
and amended on 14 March 1973 and again on 5 June 
1975, between Bayer AG, Leverkusen and Gist-Brocades 
NV, Delft. 
Gist-Brocades and Bayer submitted a request to the 
Commission to obtain an extension of the exemption up 
to 31 December 1995. 
2. The main contents of the agreements, which have 
not been changed since the Decision, may be summari­
zed as follows: they have the object of securing the long-
term supply of raw penicillin by Gist-Brocades to Bayer, 
the granting of a non-exclusive licence enabling Bayer to 
use Gist-Brocades' chemical process technology for the 
production of 6-APA as well as the long-term supply of 
6-APA by Bayer to Gist-Brocades. 
Bayer receives raw penicillin from Gist-Brocades for pro­
cessing into 6-APA under a sub-contracting arrangement 
and delivers part of this 6-APA back to Gist-Brocades, 
keeping part of it for its own use in end-products. 
The agreements concern products which may be des­
cribed as follows: 
Raw penicillin is a natural metabolic product of the peni-
cillium mould. It is the primary source for the manufac­
ture of the sterile salts penicillin G and penicillin V and 
is increasingly used for the manufacture of the interme­
diate product 6-APA, which, in its turn, is chemically 
processed into semi-synthetic penicillin such as ampicil-
lin. Raw penicillin is also used to obtain 7-aminodesace-
toxycephalosporanic acid (7-ADCA), an intermediate 
product for the manufacture of cephalosporin specialties. 
6-APA is an intermediate product which is both proces­
sed into semi-synthetic penicillin and sold as a bulk pro­
duct for processing. 
Cephalosporins are another kind of broad spectrum anti­
bacterial substance. 
O OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. 
O OJ No L 30, 5. 3. 1976, p. 13. For a more extensive description of the agreements, the 
parties and the market, reference is made to Decision 
76/172/EEC. 
3. With regard to the parties' request to the Commis­
sion to grant an extension to the exemption, the Com­
mission's services have reassessed the relevant markets. 
They have reached the conclusion that the markets for 
raw penicillin and 6-APA are very open and are charac­
terized by a great deal of international trading and a 
high degree of imports and exports. Both products are 
marketed worldwide without regard to origin since 
transport costs are not very high. Manufacturers from 
third countries offer their products for sale within the 
common market and manufacturers from within the 
Community supply buyers in third countries. There are 
many independent traders. 
Although the market shares in the common market of 
the undertakings lodging the request are still large, re­
gard must be had to external market influences, to the 
fact that the undertakings' combined share on the market 
for 6-APA has decreased and to the fact that the number 
of suppliers of 6-APA within the common market has in­
creased, especially after the accession of Spain. In addi­
tion, there is an increasing trend for other products, e.g. 
cephalosporines, to be substituted for 6-APA. 
The price of 6-APA when sold to third parties over the 
last six years has not developed in a way that suggests 
that the agreements have had an anti-competitive impact 
on prices. Both undertakings remain competitors with re­
spect to the products since these continue to be marketed 
by the undertakings independently. 
4. On the basis of the facts summarized above and the 
facts as set forth in Decision 76/172/EEC, the Commis­
sion proposes to take a favourable Decision with regard 
to the agreeements under the provisions of Article 85 (3). 
The Commission invites interested third parties to send 
their observations within one month from the date of pu­
blication of this notice to the following address, quoting 
the reference IV/27.073 — Bayer/Gist-Brocades: 
Competition Directorate-General, 
Restrictive Practices, Abuse of Dominant Positions and 
Other Distortions of Competition II, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200 rue de la Loi, 
B-1049 Brussels.