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"Overall, we expect the R&D-to-sales ratio to increase in the coming years," said Bayer's management board chairman Dr Marijn Dekkers at Bayer's Perspective on Innovation 2014 press forum in Leverkusen, Germany.
The research and development budget in the life science businesses this year amounts to €3.2 billion.
Of this amount, Bayer healthcare accounts for 70 percent and Bayer cropscience for 30 percent.
Dr Dekkers said that as a world-class lifescience company, Bayer will continue to target attractive markets with high growth rates, and in following this course, it has very good prospects for the future.
He explained that the company has more than 13,000 employees in research and development, 61 percent of them in healthcare and 39 percent in cropscience, and that it has made major progress in both businesses.
In the pharmaceuticals segment, Bayer has successfully completed 25 Phase III clinical studies since 2010, and at cropscience introduced 30 new active ingredients to the market between 2000 and 2013.
Last year alone, Bayer applied for 500 patents in the life sciences.
Dr Dekkers remarked that developing new products is critical to the success of the life science businesses.
The seed business currently is ranked 7th globally, and is to be further expanded in the future.
"Our business models, whether in healthcare or cropscience, have many similarities," Dr Dekkers said.
