Bayer aiming to set innovation standards

Bayer intends to go on making its mark in research-intensive areas in the future, according to ceo Werner Wenning.

At the recent news forum, Bayer'sPerspective on Innovation 2004, he said: 'Our aim is to build on this spirit of innovation, which is the hallmark of all three Bayer subgroups, and use it to shape the future of our company.'

To further strengthen the innovative power of the Bayer Group, the management holding company has established Bayer Innovation GmbH (BIG), headquartered in Duesseldorf. An independently operating company, BIG is to identify and evaluate innovative project ideas, develop them into workable business concepts and then sell them either to companies within the Bayer Group or to third parties.

'The new company is an important instrument which complements the existing r&d activities of our subgroups,' explained Wenning. 'It will not only focus on innovative products, but also on completely new fields of business outside our current portfolio.'

To sustain its innovative strength Bayer will be investing €2.3bn in r&d this year. Taken together with capital expenditures, this means Bayer will be invest-ing more than €4bn in the company's future in 2004.

Following the separation of the newly formed company Lanxess, in which Bayer is placing its traditional chemicals business and parts of its polymers operations, the Bayer Group will focus on health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. According to Wenning, these are fields in which Bayer has strong market positions and excellent technologies that are the key to innovation and thus to growth.

In the medium term Bayer plans to maintain its high level of research spending - around 85% of which goes to the HealthCare and CropScience subgroups - and thus sustain leadership positions in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. 'However, that is evidently only possible if Germany remains a competitive industrial base in the long term,' he stressed. 'It must stop the brain drain of young scientists if it does not want to fall behind countries with cutting edge technologies.'

Dr Udo Oels, the Bayer board member responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, not only delivered an overview of the current r&d activities and plans of the subgroups but also looked to the future. For example, the BioScience and Pharmaceuticals divisions are already discussing the use of transgenic plants to produce complex molecules such as proteins for therapeutic purposes.

This year, more than half of Bayer's total research budget is being spent in the HealthCare subgroup. In pharmaceuticals Bayer will be concentrating on anti-infectives, cardiovascular risk management, cancer and urology. The division currently has a strong early pipeline containing 20 preclinical projects and 11 Phase I projects.

Two promising active substances have already proceeded to advanced research stages: the Raf kinase inhibitor for the treatment of various types of cancer and the Factor Xa inhibitor to prevent thrombosis. The US FDA has already reacted very positively to the anticancer drug, granting it fast-track status.

'The drug is currently in Phase III clinical development. If it lives up to our expectations in the treatment of renal and other types of cancer, it could definitely have the potential to become a blockbuster,' said Oels.

The same applies to the Factor Xa inhibitor for treating thrombosis. This is to be taken in tablet form and would make routine monitoring of coagulation parameters superfluous.