FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-159 12/28/04

PANTHERS QB JAKE DELHOMME, PACKERS QB BRETT FAVRE &
COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING; SEAHAWKS RB SHAUN ALEXANDER,
TEXANS RB DOMANICK DAVIS & BILLS RB WILLIS MC GAHEE
CANDIDATES FOR FEDEX AIR & GROUND NFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK HONORS

Quarterbacks JAKE DELHOMME of the Carolina Panthers, BRETT FAVRE of the Green Bay Packers and PEYTON MANNING of the Indianapolis Colts are the finalists for FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on December 24-27, while running backs SHAUN ALEXANDER of the Seattle Seahawks, DOMANICK DAVIS of the Houston Texans and WILLIS MC GAHEE of the Buffalo Bills are the finalists for FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through Thursday afternoon to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week will be announced Thursday on NFL.com and Friday in USA Today.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. The weekly FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards are a win for the local community. Along with the award, FedEx will donate $5,000 every week to the local children’s hospital in each winning market. The children’s hospitals in the two season-long winner’s markets, announced at this year’s Super Bowl, will be awarded $25,000 each. That means that FedEx will deliver nearly $250,000 to local children’s hospitals around the country in recognition of the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Award winners.

A closer look at the FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week finalists:

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

FedEx, the premier global provider of transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain management services, is the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. Through the weekly FedEx Air and Ground Awards, FedEx recognizes those NFL players who represent the same speed, precision and teamwork that their customers have come to expect from the full range of FedEx air, ground, freight and international shipping services.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-160 12/28/04

Wide receiver LEE EVANS of the Buffalo Bills, running back STEVEN JACKSON of the St. Louis Rams, running back KEVIN JONES of the Detroit Lions, quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER of the Pittsburgh Steelers and linebacker D.J. WILLIAMS of the Denver Broncos are the finalists for PEPSI NFL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK honors for games played on December 24-27, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com beginning Tuesday morning and ending on Thursday afternoon to determine the PEPSI NFL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK. The PEPSI NFL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK will be announced Thursday afternoon on NFL.com.

After the regular season, players will be nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com throughout the month of January. The winner will be announced at a press conference at Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville.

A closer look at the finalists:

This is Pepsi’s third year as the official soft drink sponsor of the NFL.

Seth Rubin                                                                            Matt Hill
Alan Taylor Communications                                             National Football League
212-714-1280 x353                                                            212-450-2080
seth@alantaylor.com                                                          hillm@nfl.com

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 28, 2004 – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s record-breaking, 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Stokley against the San Diego Chargers is among the five Week 16 nominees for "LEVITRAâ (vardenafil HCI) PLAY OF THE WEEK."

The award is presented each week during the NFL regular season to recognize the single most exciting play that week as determined by the fans. Voting is open to the fans this week from Tuesday at Noon ET until Thursday at Noon ET, exclusively on NFL.com. Each weekly winner will be a finalist for "LEVITRAâ PLAY OF THE YEAR," to be awarded at Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Florida.

Fans who vote at NFL.com each week can also enter for their chance to win a three-day/two-night trip for two to Jacksonville, Florida to attend Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations.

Green Bay Packers safety Darren Sharper’s 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars was voted last week’s winner of "LEVITRAâ PLAY OF THE WEEK" by the fans on NFL.com.

For details and video of this week’s nominees, past winners and the results of fan voting, log onto NFL.com.

In July 2003, Bayer Pharmaceutical Corporation (Bayer) & GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), co-marketers of LEVITRA (vardenafil HCI), a prescription medicine that is used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), announced their groundbreaking sponsorship of the NFL.

Midway through the opening quarter of the Carolina Panthers’ match-up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad made a spectacular one-handed grab in the corner of the endzone for the game's first score. On the play, Muhammad managed to keep both feet in bounds while hauling in the Jake Delhomme pass. Muhammad finished the afternoon with eight catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers' 37-20 victory over the NFC South-rival Buccaneers.

With the Cincinnati Bengals trailing the New York Giants by five with only 44 seconds left in the game, Bengals' wide receiver Chad Johnson found space in the end zone and gathered in a Jon Kitna pass for a four-yard touchdown catch. The second of Johnson's two touchdown catches on the day gave the Bengals a 23-22 win.

With the Dallas Cowboys trailing the Washington Redskins late in the fourth quarter, Cowboys quarterback Vinny Testaverde capped a game-winning drive by hitting wide receiver Patrick Crayton in stride for a 39-yard touchdown with 30 seconds to play. The Cowboys held on for the 13-10 victory over their NFC East rival as Testaverde finished with 234 yards passing.

With a minute to play and his team trailing by eight, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning delivered his record-breaking 49th touchdown pass of the season to wide receiver Brandon Stokley. On the play Stokley lined up in the slot position made a quick fake to the outside before cutting into the middle of the field where Manning hit him in stride. The Colts successfully converted the two-point conversion sending the game into overtime where Indianapolis defeated San Diego 34-31 on a Mike Vanderjagt field goal.

With less than four minutes to play in their match-up with the AFC South-rival Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson stripped a Jaguars receiver and the ball bounced right into the hands of linebacker Antwan Peek, who ran 66 yards down the sideline for his first career touchdown. Peek's score sealed the Texans' 21-0 victory over the Jaguars.

LEVITRA is a prescription medicine that is used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). Men taking nitrate drugs, often used to control chest pain (also known as angina), should not take LEVITRA. Men who use alpha blockers, sometimes prescribed for high blood pressure or prostate problems, also should not take LEVITRA. Such combinations could cause blood pressure to drop to an unsafe level.

The starting dose of LEVITRA is 10 mg taken no more than once per day. Your doctor will decide the dose that is right for you. In patients taking certain medications such as ritonavir, indinavir, ketoconazole, itraconazole, and erythromycin, lower doses of LEVITRA are recommended, and time between doses of LEVITRA may need to be extended.

In clinical trials, the most commonly reported side effects were headache, flushing, and stuffy or runny nose. LEVITRA is available in 2.5-mg, 5-mg, 10-mg, and 20-mg tablets.

The consistent or recurrent inability of a man to attain and/or maintain a penile erection sufficient for sexual performance¹ – is a common health condition among men that is largely untreated. It is estimated that some degree of ED affects more than one half of all men over the age of 40²– 152 million men worldwide³ and 30 million men in the United States alone.⁴

Despite the high prevalence of sexual problems, nine out of 10 men in the U.S. have not yet sought treatment from a physician.⁵

1. Jardin A, Wagner G, Khoury S, et al. Recommendations of the 1^st International Consultation on Erectile Dysfunction. Co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), International Consultation on Urological Diseases (ICUD) and Societe Internationale d’Urologie (SIU) and held July 1-3, 1999, Paris. 2000, p. 713.

2. Feldman HA, Goldstein I, Hatzichristou DG, et al. Impotence and its medical and psychosocial correlates: results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. J Urol 1994;151:54-61.

3. Aytac IA, McKinlay JB, Krane RI. The likely worldwide increase of erectile dysfunction between 1995 and 2025 and some possible policy consequences. BJU Int 1999;84:50-56

4. National Institutes of Health, Consensus Development Conference Statement, December 7-9, 1992. Online data: http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/091/091_statement.htm. (accessed 8/26/02).

5. Laumann EO, Paik A, Rosen RC. Sexual dysfunction in the United States: prevalence and predictors. JAMA 1999;281:537-544.

Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation (www.bayerpharma.com) is part of the worldwide operations of Bayer HealthCare AG, a subgroup of Bayer AG. Bayer HealthCare, with sales of approximately 8.9 billion Euro in 2003, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry. The company combines the global activities of the divisions Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diagnostics Professional Testing Systems and Diagnostics Self Testing Systems and Pharmaceuticals. 34,600 people are employed by Bayer HealthCare worldwide.

Our aim is to discover and manufacture innovative products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Our products enhance well-being and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating disease.

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group 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 filed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including its Form 20-F). Bayer assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

About GSK

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.