No More Legal Headache for Bayer as It Nears $10B Roundup Settlement: Report

Investors suffering losses from Bayer’s Roundup legal woes are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, as the German conglomerate is said to be nearing a final settlement that could put tens of thousands of lawsuits behind it. Bayer has reached verbal agreements with a large proportion of about 125,000 U.S. plaintiffs who allege Roundup causes cancer as part of a $10 billion plan to end all legal claims around the weedkiller.

May 26, 2020 | Source: FiercePharma | by Angus Liu

Investors suffering losses from Bayer’s Roundup legal woes are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, as the German conglomerate is said to be nearing a final settlement that could put tens of thousands of lawsuits behind it.

Bayer has reached verbal agreements with a large proportion of about 125,000 U.S. plaintiffs who allege Roundup causes cancer as part of a $10 billion plan to end all legal claims around the weedkiller, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

Wrapping up the legal battle at $10 billion would be a win for Bayer, as it has lost $30 billion in market value since the Monsanto buyout, through which it inherited Roundup.

“We have made progress in the Roundup mediation discussions,” Bayer said in a statement shared with FiercePharma. It declined to comment on detailed settlement outcomes or timing.

So far, Bayer has lost all three trials that ended with combined $191 million in damages, though the company is still fighting them in appeals court.