WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Germany's Bayer AG drug company says it will appeal a U.S. court's unfavorable decision on a poultry antibiotic, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The decision by an administrative law judge was sought by the Food and Drug Administration, which claims Bayer's Baytril poultry antibiotic is facilitating the rise of a drug-resistant foodborne pathogen.
Judge Daniel J. Davidson wrote Bayer doesn't have enough evidence to show that Baytril is safe, so it should be pulled from the U.S. market.
A Bayer spokesman said the company will appeal the decision to the commissioner of the FDA, a process that could take several months.
Baytril is the first animal antibiotic the FDA has sought to remove from the market on the grounds that it is diluting the effectiveness of a human drug.
If the agency succeeds, officials of the animal pharmaceuticals industry worry regulators will go after more animal antibiotics.
