Bayer: Science For A Better Life - research

Editorial

Solutions for a brighter future

Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Bayer AG Board of Management

The world is changing. Social and technological megatrends will shape our near future. The steady growth of the world population is one of these trends. The Earth’s population is expected to increase from about 6.5 billion at present to 7.5 billion by 2020. This would be three times as many people as in 1950.

The population growth trend has far-reaching consequences. The demand for innovative diagnostics, medicines and therapies is rising, for example. What’s more, a bigger population requires more food. Another important task is to safeguard the supply of energy and raw materials while at the same time optimally counteracting the consequences of climate change.

Humanity has to face up to all these major challenges. Yet challenges also offer opportunities – to all those who can provide solutions. Companies that account for social and technological megatrends at an early stage in their strategic deliberations will have a competitive advantage.

As an inventor company, Bayer makes use of the expertise in its subgroups to develop innovations that accurately address these problems. Bayer HealthCare is currently focusing on four therapeutic research areas: Cardiology, Oncology, Molecular Imaging and Women’s Healthcare. The first three areas clearly address the needs of an aging society. And the well-stocked research and development pipeline opens up outstanding perspectives based on the aforementioned megatrends.

Bayer CropScience is also occupied with the themes of population growth and climate change. The goal is to increase crop yields on decreasing acreages. Here the company deploys its innovation capability, for example, to increase the stress tolerance of plants and safeguard or increase harvest yields under extreme conditions.

At the same time, researchers are working in various areas to identify the genes that are responsible in certain crops for endurance and resistance to disease. This “integrated breeding” is also aimed at increasing crop yields.

At Bayer MaterialScience, effective climate protection is a top priority. Here the company is able to draw on its expertise in polyurethane insulating materials, for example. Furthermore, this subgroup’s scientists are conducting research into renewable raw materials as a biological alternative to fossil raw materials.

This edition of research too makes clear through numerous examples how our inventor company is researching solutions for a brighter future – fully in keeping with our mission statement “Bayer: Science For A Better Life.”