NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Singapore, Singapore, 2009/06/25 - 2009 research and development budget of specialty chemicals group up 10 percent - Number of employees working in research and development staff 11 percent higher than in 2007 - New central “Innovation” group function. FRA: DE Frankfurt: LXS

Specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is stepping up its research and development activities, increasing its 2009 investment budget to around EUR 110 million, up 10 percent from 2008, and expanding the number of staff in this area. At the beginning of this year, LANXESS also created an independent “Innovation” group function for centralized coordination of its research and development activities. The top priority for innovations at LANXESS is their cost-effectiveness.

“Our aim is to translate all innovations and product enhancements into marketable products as quickly as possible,” explains, LANXESS AG Board of Management member, Werner Breuers. “We are planning to have 80 percent of our current R&D projects ready for the market within two years.”

Over 450 employees are currently working on new ideas at the company’s research centers around the globe. This figure is 11 percent 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, LANXESS has established research, development and technical centers for rubber and semi-crystalline products, leather chemicals and material protection products in the cities of Wuxi, Shanghai, Beijing and Qingdao. LANXESS also maintains a Rubber Chemicals Technical Center in Thane, Maharashtra state, India, and a microbiology laboratory for material protection in Singapore.

LANXESS (lanxess.com) is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.58 billion in 2008 and currently around 14,600 employees in 23 countries. The company is represented at 44 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manu¬facturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Agency / Source: LANXESS

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