 In 1920 he was taken on at Hoechst AG's pharmaceutical department and by 1922 was in charge of the company's Science Office.He became an alternate member of the managing board of parent company IG Farben in 1931 as well as a member of their Pharmaceutical Main Assembly.Having initially concentrated his research on developing drugs to fight diabetes Lautenschläger's remit now broadened to take in the production and development of drugs for vaccination and pest control.