We drive the development of pioneering products and technologies with an end-to-end innovation approach. Sustainability is embedded throughout every stage of the process – from discovery, pre-clinical and clinical studies to application development, scale-up and industrialization.
Our global Science & Research team ensures innovation is aligned with the needs of our businesses by continuously refining its innovation portfolio to maximize value. This involves delivering existing priority projects that have a direct impact on business, as well as reviewing and investing in capabilities to future-proof innovation delivery. Our newly formed Scientific Advisory Board also helps guide long-term direction.
The integration of our legacy companies has resulted in a unified global innovation portfolio that effectively addresses both current and future needs. This is boosted further through investments made by our Venturing unit in startups developing cutting-edge innovations.
With our track record of world-class scientific leadership and uniquely broad portfolio of ingredients, we apply creative expertise and proven science to improve health and well-being and address the global challenges of sustainable delivery.
R&D expenditure
We continuously invest in innovation to support the overall balance of our product portfolio and product life cycles.
Continuing operations |
|
2024 |
|
Pro forma 20231 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R&D expenditures in € million |
|
796 |
|
744 |
||||
R&D expenditures as % of net sales |
|
6 |
|
6 |
||||
Staff employed in R&D activities |
|
2,089 |
|
2,042 |
||||
|
||||||||
Our capabilities
As mentioned in Our strategy section, our cutting-edge Science & Research capabilities are built on eight powerful research platforms, and the tools at our scientists’ disposal ensure they can have the greatest possible impact. Our scientists also work closely with our Business Units, customers, and consumers to help guarantee we are making a real difference, whether we are working to make products healthier, more sustainable, or simply more delightful.
Biotechnology
Through our mastery of microbial systems, we have developed a wide range of nutrition, health, and beauty products. Using traditional and modern approaches to biotechnology, including synthetic biology and precision fermentation, we create and improve sustainable bio-solutions that accelerate the shift to a climate-neutral society. These approaches are further boosted when coupled with cutting-edge digital technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Our biotechnology know-how enables us to innovate, improve our existing solutions, and provide a consistent supply of ingredients to our Business Units.
Microbiome research
For humans and animals, we are working to better understand interactions with the microbiome, the unique, individual collection of diverse microorganisms that populates the body. Knowing more about the microbiome’s influence on health and well-being, especially for gut and skin health, enables us to develop novel capabilities. We also capitalize on synergies between microbiology, analytics, data science, synthetic biology, and human biology.
Receptor biology and sensory sciences
Our research into receptor biology is decoding taste, smell, and related sensations at the molecular level with our proprietary knowledge driving innovation across a range of business segments. Together with our creation expertise, this industry-leading science helps discover highly differentiating ingredients and modulators of flavor and fragrance.
Research into perception and cognitive neuroscience sheds further light on how humans respond to ingredients or mixtures. Our insights into the sensory and psychophysical characteristics of fragrance and flavor help us identify and measure well-being benefits. Our capabilities in this area include in-house sensory testing, psychophysics, and behavioral psychology. These are complemented by psychophysiology and cognitive neuroscience conducted with the aid of external partners.
AI and data science
We continue to exploit and explore advances in AI to create new tools that augment our research and creative teams. Data science generates insight into bioinformatics, biostatistics, lab data sciences, AI-driven formulation performance modeling, and knowledge management. The application of state-of-the-art data science methodologies and infrastructure across our research and innovation also enables the development of unique, precision solutions for our customers.
Chemical and process sciences
We deliver new signature ingredients for our perfumery business and develop improved production processes for existing ingredients for nutrition, health, and beauty.
Assisted by our green chemistry approach, we use modern catalytic methods, renewable raw materials, and data science to speed up successful product development while lowering our eco-footprint. In tandem, we also address increased customer demand for natural ingredients by developing advanced extraction technologies, such as Firgood®. Our leadership in naturals is built upon three pillars: innovation, sustainable procurement standards, collections of certified ingredients with strong involvement at source.
Formulation and materials science
We develop cutting-edge biodegradable delivery systems that boost fragrance longevity, capitalize on our mastery of molecular partitioning to enhance the stability and bioavailability of active ingredients used in personal care, and use our expertise in controlled release to develop targeted delivery solutions for ingredients used across our businesses. We also use our knowledge of flavor delivery and off-note modulation, combined with our expertise in plant-protein texturization, to offer new food-and-drink product formats.
Analytical sciences
Our analytical sciences capabilities enable us to pioneer solutions that shape the future of nutrition, health, and beauty. By generating molecular insights, we assist in the discovery of novel ingredients and deepen the understanding of complex biochemical mechanisms in microbes. We unravel the molecular composition and interactions responsible for the performance of our products in customer applications. Reliable analytical sciences data is critical in supporting advances in modeling approaches and AI, from ideation and discovery to manufacturing and application of our products.
Nutritional and food sciences
We create science-based, sustainable solutions for human nutrition and health. Our expertise in nutritional and food sciences supports the product-development and delivery process – from concept, through preclinical and clinical research – to the customer. It also enables us to develop targeted solutions that improve the flavor, texture, and nutritive content of food products.
IP and licensing
Our intellectual property (IP) professionals maximize the value of our innovations and brands by strategically defending patents and trademark rights in key markets. The IP team acts as a differentiator in joint developments, technology licensing (in/out), and IP asset acquisitions or sales. In 2024, we made 164 new first-patent publications, reflecting a continued focus on protecting our competitive advantage.
Scientific collaboration
We participate in more than 60 public-private partnerships and collaborate with over 100 organizations worldwide, including academic institutions, start-ups, and others. Our commitment to collaboration broadens our scientific and research horizons, enabling us to collectively contribute to solving pressing societal and environmental challenges.
Venturing
Our Venturing unit invests, coaches, and supports startups to innovate in nutrition, health, and beauty. In 2024, we made four new startup investments and nine follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies. We successfully monetized the value of our investments through various liquidity events. At the end of 2024, our portfolio included 39 startups, plus two fund investments in our portfolio. For more information, visit here. Venturing also supports building and scaling innovative ventures from within dsm-firmenich via a venture-capital approach with dedicated entrepreneurial teams, single-tier startup-style board governance, and value inflection, milestone-based funding rounds.
Pushing the boundaries
Our scientists conduct pioneering work involving each of the eight science capabilities described in this chapter. However, it is the synergies between them that really make our company special. By using these capabilities together, we can innovate in truly unique ways, setting us apart as a Category of One.
In 2024, we launched an array of innovations across a range of markets. For example, our Sprinkle It Technology™ makes it easy to increase the nutritional value of food, our Novasense® solutions improve the perception of alcohol in no- or low-alcohol drinks, and our TastePRINT® technology is ushering in a new generation of affordable and sustainable sweetness.
The new profragrances in our groundbreaking HaloScent® range ensure scents last longer and our ETERWELL™ YOUTH technology helps skin appear younger.
We also launched exciting new solutions in our ocean-friendly life’s®OMEGA range, which boosts sustainability by making use of omega-3 derived from microalgae rather than from fish; our new ProAct360™ solution is improving livestock performance through enhanced protein digestion; and much more.
As scientific leaders, we must constantly challenge ourselves: we know it is vital to ensure that our science remains at the cutting edge and that we continue investing in the most promising emerging technologies. This is why we founded our new Scientific Advisory Board in 2024. This special team of world-leading experts challenges and reviews our scientific work. They help us to shape our vision for a healthier and more sustainable future, in which our innovations keep pushing back the boundaries of what is possible.
