The German chemical and pharmaceutical industry is increasing its research spending while warning of foreign competition.
 

According to the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) in Frankfurt, investment in research and development (R&D) is expected to grow to €16.5 billion this year, reaching a new record high. Expenditure by the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI) on academic basic research, young scientists, and chemistry education is also expected to reach a peak in 2025. According to the fund, which was established in 1950, it will invest around €14 million in its anniversary year, including approximately €2 million in special funding for data science in chemistry studies. “Chemical and pharmaceutical companies have not put their research spending on hold – despite massive economic problems and despite the less than rosy outlook. We must and will work hard to secure our future,” emphasized Thomas Wessel, Chairman of the Research and Education Committee at the VCI. However, he added that growth in R&D budgets in the industry is weaker than in other sectors. Germany's lack of competitiveness is slowing down development. Germany is losing ground as a location for innovation in international comparison, said Wessel. According to the BDI Innovation Indicator 2024, Germany has dropped two places and now ranks 12th. To counter this trend, the domestic chemical innovation location must become more attractive, said Wessel, who is counting on the plans of the new federal government. The “Chemistry Agenda 2045” announced by the coalition partners must now be developed as quickly as possible, and regulation and bureaucracy must be simplified. Chemical technologies from materials research, such as advanced materials, nanotechnology, and new process technologies, must also be given equal priority to key technologies such as AI and quantum technologies in the federal government's high-tech agenda. Wessel emphasized: “Chemical technologies are not marginal issues – chemical technologies are drivers of innovation. Chemistry is 70 percent high-tech!” His appeal to those responsible in Berlin is: “The new federal government should now set its economic and innovation compass with courage and confidence and just get on with it.”
 
From left to right: Thomas Wessel, Chairman of the VCI Research Committee; Ulrike Zimmer, Head of Science, Technology and Environment at the VCI and Managing Director of the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI); Christian Kerzig, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Photochemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
 
Sources:

• VCI press release (22.5.2025)
• Photo: © VCI / Thomas Lohnes