Shares in Bayer AG slid midafternoon after the group almost doubled the number of suspected deaths relating to its cholesterol-lowering product Baycol/Lipobay to around 100 from a previous figure of 52 given in August, dealers said.

At 2.19 pm, Bayer was down 0.63 eur or 1.75 pct at 35.32, while the DAX 30 index was down 53.51 points or 1.04 pct at 5,079.89.

"The stock came off suddenly on the news, as the market got a bit of a shock," said one dealer, adding: "But at the end of the day, I think most of the possible bad Baycol news has been priced into the stock."

The dealer said that the stock tested the 35-eur level on the news, but that it quickly rebounded, showing that it has good support at the mark.

"But if the stock manages to fall through the level, it will find very strong support at 34 eur," she said, adding that at that price she would be a buyer of the stock.

The new suspected Baycol-related death toll figure has been presented in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) by Bayer as part of its New York stock exchange listing next Thursday, a Bayer spokesman said.