Bayer shares plunge on new US ruling

FRANKFURT: Shares in German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer plunged as markets opened on Wednesday, after a second US jury ruled that blockbuster pesticide Roundup — made by recently-acquired Monsanto — causes cancer. The Leverkusen-based group’s stock toppled 11.6 per cent to 61.60 euros ($69.88) at around 09:40 am in Frankfurt (0840 GMT), making it the worst performer on the DAX index of blue-chip German shares. A California jury found that Monsanto’s Roundup — a herbicide built on active ingredient glyphosate — caused cancer in a man who sprayed it on his garden over decades. It was the second such ruling within a year against Monsanto, with a first coming in August last year soon after Bayer sealed its $63 billion takeover of the firm. The California court has yet to decide whether Monsanto is liable for amateur gardener Edwin Hardeman’s non-Hodgkins lymphoma, after its Tuesday finding that Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing it. In the previous case, brought by groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, the firm was ordered to pay $289 million in damages, an award later reduced to $78.5 million and which the firm is appealing. Cases so far have found Bayer’s attempts to convince jurors with scientific evidence struggling against plaintiffs, who point to a finding from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization. — AFP