Just ticked in the Handelsblatt for $BAYN (-2,25 %) ticked in.
The Trump administration is campaigning for the Supreme Court to issue a landmark ruling. A victory could free Bayer from the wave of lawsuits. The share price rises sharply.
Düsseldorf. The Bayer AG has achieved an important im milliardenschweren Rechtsstreit um mögliche Krebsrisiken des glyphosathaltigen Unkrautvernichters Roundup achieved. The US government supports the Group's lawsuit before the US Supreme Court, as the White House announced on Monday. A ruling by the Supreme Court could Bayer largely free the company from a wave of lawsuits in one fell swoop.
The US government's solicitor general has asked the court to accept the case and provide legal clarity. The judges had previously asked for his opinion and generally follow his recommendation. If the lawsuit is admitted, Bayer has a good chance of a positive decision for the company.
The wave of glyphosate lawsuits has been one of Bayer's central problems for years and is weighing heavily on the share price. Investors now apparently see a solution to the legal dispute within reach. Bayer shares rose by almost 15 percent to up to EUR 35 at the start of trading on Tuesday. That would be the highest level since the beginning of 2024.
Glyphosate dispute has already cost Bayer more than ten billion euros
The company caught the glyphosate problem with the 2018 takeover of the US agricultural chemicals group Monsanto. Over 100,000 lawsuits have been filed since then due to alleged cancer risks. Bayer has lost and won cases in court - with no clear direction.
So far, the legal dispute has cost the company more than ten billion euros in settlement payments alone. Bayer has set aside a further seven billion euros for the settlement. More than 60,000 lawsuits are still pending.
In principle, the legal dispute is about a simple question: Does Monsanto, and therefore Bayer, have to warn of cancer risks on the glyphosate package insert? The company denies this. This is because the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to classify the weedkiller as completely safe and does not prescribe any warnings. As the highest US authority, the EPA is responsible for approving the product.
The plaintiffs, on the other hand, are relying on regulations in US states that do not fully follow the EPA's guidelines. This was the basis for their first spectacular victories in court, for example in California and Missouri. Bayer was sentenced to pay damages in the hundreds of millions in some cases.
US government supports the company's arguments
In the cases, Bayer sees a conflict between federal law through the EPA and the law at state level. According to Bayer's lawsuit, the Supreme Court should clarify that the EPA's glyphosate regulation is binding in all states.
The US government is now supporting Bayer's central argument that the approval of a pesticide by a federal authority cannot be undermined by lawsuits in individual states. Specifically, this concerns Bayer's application to overturn a ruling from the state of Missouri, which had awarded a plaintiff compensation of 1.25 million dollars.
The representative of the US government, Attorney General D. John Sauer, explained in his letter that the EPA had repeatedly determined that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic to humans.
The agency has therefore always approved the labels for Roundup without a corresponding cancer warning. However, if state courts ruled to the contrary, they would undermine the federal agency's scientific assessment.
Source: Handelsblatt 02.12.2025
