Bayer wins glyphosate case in U.S. court
Bayer has been grappling with legal disputes in the US over glyphosate for years. Now, the company has scored a victory in the herbicide litigation at a court. And investors are benefiting immediately.
Bayer has achieved a legal victory in the US lawsuit alleging that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, causes cancer. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia dismissed the claim on Thursday that the company's subsidiary, Monsanto, had violated laws in the state of Pennsylvania.
The plaintiff, a gardener who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, had argued that the company should have added a cancer warning to the product. The court unanimously ruled that this would not have been allowed under federal regulations for uniform labeling.
Bayer's stock price soared in the DAX following the decision, with shares gaining ten percent.
Glyphosate sparks wave of lawsuits
However, the decision contradicts earlier rulings from two other US courts. "The conflicting decisions of the federal appeals courts on this issue warrant review by the Supreme Court of the United States," Bayer said in a statement on the ruling.
Bayer has consistently rejected allegations that glyphosate causes cancer. Regulatory authorities worldwide have classified the substance as not carcinogenic. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the herbicide as "probably carcinogenic" in 2015.
By acquiring glyphosate developer Monsanto, Bayer inherited a wave of lawsuits in the US that have been weighing heavily on the company for years. As of July 23, Bayer has won 14 out of 23 cases, but has also faced significant penalties. Since acquiring Monsanto for $63 billion in June 2018, Bayer's stock price has plummeted by more than 73 percent.
The court's decision to dismiss the claim against Bayer's subsidiary for not adding a cancer warning to glyphosate-containing products is a significant win for the company. Despite this victory, the conflicting decisions on the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate by different US courts have led Bayer to call for review by the Supreme Court of the United States.
