Bayer Removes Baytril

September 20, 2005 — 

Bayer Corp. announced on September 8, 2005 that it would immediately discontinue sales of the antibiotic Baytril (enrofloxacin). Bayer officials decided to take this action rather than appealing the decision to federal court. Baytril, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic previously approved for use in poultry, is similar to the human drug ciprofloxacin.

The drug came under review amid Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerns that its use could result in increased fluoroquinolone-resistant bacterial infections in humans. FDA issued a final ruling in July, 2005 effectively withdrawing the use of Baytril in poultry citing "scientific data that showed that the use of enrofloxacin in poultry caused resistance to emerge in Campylobacter." Bayer's website states that "there is no evidence that withdrawal of the product would have a meaningful impact on resistant Campylobacter infections in humans" but company officials decided the likelihood of overturning the decision in federal court was small.

Source:
Bayer Animal Health
http://www.bayer-ah.com/web_docs/BA-2169b1.pdf
FDA
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2005/new01212.html