The German chemical and drug company Bayer AG said Friday it is reorganizing its pharmaceutical business to decentralize management and speed development of new products.

“The primary objective here is to be among the top 10 companies in every country” in which the business operates, said Horst Meyer, general manager of Bayer’s pharmaceuticals group.

Under the reorganization, Bayer’s global pharmaceutical branches will operate from four regions, including Europe, North America, Japan, and the rest of the world. Each region will be responsible for its own sales, costs, profits and strategy.

“We otherwise risk missing market opportunities in our global business through being too far away from our customers,” Meyer said.

A Miles Inc. plant on North Regal in Spokane is part of Bayer’s North American drug business.

Research and product development functions will be separated, the company said, a move that “will improve the chances of finding novel active agents more rapidly than before.”