German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer AG said Tuesday it had signed a supply and licensing agreement with American generic drug manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. Under the agreement, Barr will market a generic version of Bayer's Yasmin female contraceptive in the U.S.

The generic version of Yasmin can go on sale starting July 1, Bayer said, while a license has also been granted for Barr to market a generic version of YAZ, also a female contraceptive, in the U.S. in 2011.

Montvale, New Jersey-based Barr will pay Bayer a fixed percentage of the revenues from both the products sold by Barr, but further financial details of the deals were not disclosed.

"The agreements allow us to participate in the U.S. market for generic oral contraceptives in partnership with an establish player," said Gunnar Riemann, a management board member of Bayer Healthcare.

"We expect our global women's health care business to continue posting high single-digit percentage annual growth rates in the coming years, thanks to the products we already have on the market and to new, promising developmental products," Riemann said.

The news follows an announcement Monday that Leverkusen-based Bayer is investing 100 million euros (US$156 million) in its Brazilian operations.

Shares of Bayer were trading up 1 percent at 52.11 euros (US$81.29) in Frankfurt morning trading.