Bayer Faces Legal Challenges Amid Biotech Controversy

Shares in Bayer rose over nine percent during Tuesday morning trading in Frankfurt following support from the US government regarding its legal challenges. The Trump administration urged the US Supreme Court to review Bayer's appeal concerning its Roundup weedkiller, amidst ongoing legal battles involving approximately sixty-seven thousand lawsuits claiming that the product causes cancer.

This assertion is denied by Bayer, which contains glyphosate, an ingredient classified as probably carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. US Solicitor General D. John Sauer stated in a brief that the Supreme Court should hear Bayer's challenge to a one point twenty-five million dollar jury verdict reached in Missouri.

In late twenty twenty-three, the Missouri court ruled that Bayer must compensate claimant John Durnell, who argued his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was linked to Roundup exposure, and his lawyers claimed that Bayer failed to warn consumers about the product’s risks.

Bayer's appeal hinges on the argument that federal law should take precedence over state law in such cases. Sauer emphasized that upholding the Missouri verdict would undermine the authority of the federal US Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.

He noted that the EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic in humans and has consistently approved Roundup labels without cancer warnings. Bayer's CEO Bill Anderson indicated that the support from the US government is crucial, stating, 'The stakes could not be higher as the misapplication of federal law jeopardizes the availability of innovative tools for farmers and investments in the broader US economy.' The Supreme Court is expected to make a formal decision on whether to review the case by January.

Bayer acquired Roundup as part of its takeover of agrochemical firm Monsanto in twenty eighteen. Since then, Bayer has paid more than ten billion dollars to cover verdicts and settlements related to the product.

In twenty twenty-two, Bayer began transitioning the home-use version of Roundup to a non-glyphosate formula. The brief from Sauer also appears against the backdrop of the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, led by US Health Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr., which challenges scientific consensus and promotes the idea that the US faces a health epidemic due to decisions made by public-health institutions and the pharmaceutical industry. Despite pledges from US President Donald Trump and Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. to reduce the use of dangerous pesticides, the EPA is accelerating pesticide approvals, creating tensions within the MAHA camp.