Who owns Canesten?
Canesten is owned by Bayer (Germany, XETRA: BAYN).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Bayer AG Annual Report 2025, 10 March 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Bayer AG reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇩🇪 Germany, Leverkusen
- Origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- Founded
- 1973
- Category
- Consumer health › Over-the-counter medicine › Digestive health
- Parent ticker
- XETRA: BAYN
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Canesten
Canesten is a clotrimazole antifungal used for thrush and athlete's foot, developed by Bayer and sold over the counter across Europe, Asia and Latin America. It is one of the largest brands in a category rarely advertised prominently. Moving it from prescription to pharmacy sale was significant, because it let people treat a common condition without a consultation.
Ownership timeline of Canesten
Where Canesten sits in Bayer
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Bayer ownership tree →
See the full Bayer brand portfolio (9) →
Other brands owned by Bayer
Bayer controls 9 brands on Brandtree, 4 of them in consumer health.
Also in consumer health
- Alka-Seltzer (1931)
- Aspirin (1899)
- Claritin (1993)
Founded in the 1970s
- Roundup (1974)
Other brands in digestive health, and who owns them
Bayer has more brands in digestive health on Brandtree than any other owner: 2 of 25.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Daiichi Sankyo Stomach Medicine | Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Kaopectate | Genomma Lab | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| Epocler | Hypera | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Entrostop | Kalbe Farma | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Metamucil | Procter & Gamble | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Buscolysin | Sopharma | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria |
| Oracal | Birzeit Pharmaceutical | 🇵🇸 Palestine |
| First Response | Church & Dwight | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Bayer
Bayer is a publicly listed company headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, founded in 1863. Brandtree records 9 brands under its control, and it is listed as XETRA: BAYN.
Bayer was founded in Germany in 1863 as a dye maker and synthesised aspirin in 1897. It spans pharmaceuticals, crop science and consumer health, and its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto brought both the Roundup weedkiller and tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that glyphosate causes cancer.
🇩🇪 Canesten and other German brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 252 brands that began in Germany. 93 of them (37%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Canesten is not one of them.
- Atrauman — HARTMANN 🇩🇪
- Hansaplast — Beiersdorf 🇩🇪
- 3 Glocken — Princes Group 🇬🇧
- A. Lange & Söhne — Richemont 🇨🇭
- ABOUT YOU — Zalando 🇩🇪
- ADS-TEC Energy — ADS-TEC Energy 🇮🇪
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Canesten?
The parent company of Canesten is Bayer, a publicly listed company headquartered in Germany.
Is Canesten German?
Yes. Canesten originated in Germany in 1973 and its owner, Bayer, is also headquartered in Germany.
Is Canesten still owned by Bayer?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Canesten is still owned by Bayer. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Bayer AG Annual Report 2025 — Bayer AG, Annual report, published 10 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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