Bayer to invest 4 billion euros in R&D this year: Bild

Reuters
The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas May 6, 2015. Venezuela is investigating whether drug companies including Merck and Bayer have improperly profited from subsidized foreign exchange amid growing medicine shortages, the health minister said. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins - RTX1BV1A

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drugs and chemicals group Bayer plans to invest 4 billion euros ($4.54 billion) in research and development this year, its chief executive told Germany's Bild newspaper. "That is more than ever before. The development of our new blood thinner Xarelto alone cost 2.2 billion euros," Marijn Dekkers. Aspirin maker Bayer raised its research and development spending by 5 percent to 3.57 billion euros in 2014, representing 8.5 percent of its sales before special items. It has about 14,000 employees worldwide working in this field. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Anand Basu)