Who owns Claritin?
Claritin is owned by Bayer (Germany, XETRA: BAYN), which has owned the brand since 1 October 2014.[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
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇩🇪 Germany, Leverkusen
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1993
- Category
- Consumer health › Over-the-counter medicine › Cold
- Parent ticker
- XETRA: BAYN
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Claritin
Claritin is a loratadine antihistamine that was among the first non-drowsy allergy treatments, and its move from prescription to over-the-counter sale in 2002 was one of the largest such switches ever made. Bayer acquired it with Merck's consumer care business in 2014.
Ownership timeline of Claritin
Where Claritin 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)
- Canesten (1973)
Founded in the 1990s
- Elevit (1994)
Other brands in cold, and who owns them
The 33 brands in cold on Brandtree belong to 20 owners. The largest is Krka, with 5.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Herbion | Krka | 🇸🇮 Slovenia |
| Breathe Right | Prestige Consumer Healthcare | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Lemsip | Reckitt | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Dimestil | Birzeit Pharmaceutical | 🇵🇸 Palestine |
| HealthCareAisle | Dr. Reddy's | 🇮🇳 India |
| Tukol | Genomma Lab | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| Benadryl | Kenvue | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Allergosan | Sopharma | 🇧🇬 Bulgaria |
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.
🇺🇸 Claritin and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Claritin among them.
- Advil — Haleon 🇬🇧
- Band-Aid — Kenvue 🇺🇸
- Breathe Right — Prestige Consumer Healthcare 🇺🇸
- Bufferin (United States) — Genomma Lab 🇲🇽
- Doan's — Dr. Reddy's 🇮🇳
- First Response — Church & Dwight 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Claritin?
The parent company of Claritin is Bayer, a publicly listed company headquartered in Germany.
Is Claritin American or German?
Claritin originated in the United States in 1993, but it is owned today by Bayer, which is headquartered in Germany. So Claritin is an American-origin brand under German ownership.
Since when has Bayer owned Claritin?
Bayer has owned Claritin since 1 October 2014.
Is Claritin still owned by Bayer?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Claritin 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.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.