Bayer chairman calls for R&D tax breaks

Werner Wenning, chairman of German drug major Bayer, has called on politicians, alongside providing conventional project support for the pharmaceutical and chemicals sectors, to introduce more substantial tax breaks for R&D, through the increased deductibility of such expenditures, as has already occurred in some European countries. This would create additional incentives for investment in innovation and thus in the future of the nation, he told journalists attending the Bayer Perspective on Innovation 2008 meeting (see also page 5).

"For a research-based company in Germany, it is particularly important that this country's innovative capability will be further enhanced," declared Mr Wenning, noting that Bayer has some 11,800 researchers and developers, including 6,300 working within the domestic market. He also called for comprehensive global patent protection, saying this "forms a necessary foundation for innovations," and intellectual property protection is essential for companies doing resarch.