BAYER, the German pharmaceutical and chemical group, yesterday withdrew the anti-cholesterol drug Baycol from Japan, the last place it was still being sold.

The company, which pulled the drug elsewhere on August 8 after it was linked with a possibly fatal side-effect, said the Japanese withdrawal would cost it a further Eu150m ( pounds 95m). This takes the total impact of the drug's global withdrawal to between Eu750m and Eu850m this year. A company spokesman said yesterday that the decision to withdraw the drug in Japan had been taken after the Japanese health authorities had told Bayer that another anti-cholesterol product, gemfibrozil, would soon be marketed there.

Baycol's most worrying side-effect, a potentially fatal muscle-wasting condition called rhabdomyolysis, has been particularly notable among patients who had been treated with gemfibrozil at the same time.

"If we had not received notice that gemfibrozil was to be marketed in Japan, we would not have withdrawn the drug," the spokesman said.

The company also admitted yesterday that a German government report has linked 1,100 cases of muscle weakness to Baycol, marketed in Europe as Lipobay.

Bayer's shares continued to weaken on fears of increased compensation claims from Baycol users. In late afternoon trading the shares were valued at Eu34.20 each, well down from their high of more than Eu50.

David Duffus, a US lawyer, said that 10 class action lawsuits have been filed against Bayer in America.

On September 5, personal injury lawyers from around the United States are due to discuss the possible consolidation of all the federal suits into one court.

The Bayer spokesman refused to discuss the number of suits filed against the company, but said that there were fewer than have been reported. "We are aware that lawsuits have been filed," he said.

The company is still mulling over the possibility of selling off its pharmaceuticals unit, the spokesman added.

"It will be some weeks before any decision is taken," he said.

The company said last week that two top pharmaceuticals companies were interested in the unit.