Lanxess increases R&D budget
Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG is increasing its 2009 budget for research and development activities to around EUR 110 million, up 10% compared with 2008. It is also increasing the number of staff in this area.
At the beginning of this year, the company created an independent “Innovation” group function for centralised coordination of its research and development activities. “Our aim is to translate all innovations and product enhancements into marketable products as quickly as possible,” explains management board member Werner Breuers. “We are planning to have 80% of our current R&D projects ready for the market within two years.”
More than 450 employees are currently working on new ideas at the company’s research centres around the globe. This figure is 11% higher than in 2007 and is set to rise still further. In 2008, Lanxess completed 110 research and development projects, and there are around 100 projects in the pipeline at present.
The number of new patents granted quadrupled between 2006 and 2008, and the group currently holds around 6,300 patents in total.
In China, the firm has established research, development and technical centres for leather chemicals, rubber and semi-crystalline products, and material protection products in Wuxi, Shanghai, Beijing and Qingdao. It also runs a rubber chemicals technical centre in Thane, India, and a microbiology laboratory for material protection in Singapore.
