Bayer rips Frankfurt: US Supreme Court will shed light on glyphosate case

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor)-Bayer soared on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute over the herbicide Roundup with a decision expected by June, which should finally shed light on the long-standing issue. According to traders, this reinforces hopes for a verdict that establishes the precedence of US federal law on herbicide sales warnings over the laws of individual states. Last Friday, 16 January, after the close of the session, Bayer announced that 'the U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will hear the Durnell Roundup case', accepting a petition submitted to the Court by Monsanto in April 2025 in order 'to address the disparity in jurisdiction among district courts over the application of federal preemption, a cross-cutting issue in the Roundup litigation'. The glyphosate-based herbicidehas been accused of being carcinogenic and Bayer has been sued before various US state courts in thousands of cases on the grounds that it failed to warn of this risk, which Bayer disputes. The company expects a decision on the merits during the 2026 court session, which ends in June, a statement said.

"The Supreme Court's decision to hear the case is good news for US farmers, who need regulatory clarity," Bill Anderson, Bayer's ceo, was quoted as saying in a statement. "It is also an important step in our multi-pronged strategy to significantly contain this litigation. It is time for the US legal system to establish that companies should not be punished under state law for complying with federal warning label requirements," the ceo added. Bayer also points out that 'all major regulatory bodies worldwide have concluded that glyphosate-based herbicides can be used safely'. The Supreme Court had previously sought the opinion of the Attorney General, who had filed a brief on behalf of the US government in December, agreeing with the company that 'the Court should review the case, resolve the issue of disparity in judgment, and rule in favour of the company,' the statement added.

As Bayer points out, Attorney General John Sauer argued that upholding the Durnell ruling would allow juries to ignore the scientific decisions made by the US EPA (the US Environmental Protection Agency, ed.) regarding the safety of glyphosate and warned of the consequences of upholding the Durnell ruling, citing an earlier Supreme Court ruling. In that case, 'EPA specified health warnings that should appear on the label of a particular pesticide, and a manufacturer should not be subject to different labelling regimes that prescribe different requirements'. In October 2023, the Durnell case was tried in the Missouri Circuit Court of St. Louis and the jury returned a verdict in favour of the plaintiff on one of three claims. The jury ruled that the company had failed to warn of the product's risk, awarding$1.25 million in damages. Bayer appealed the verdict in August 2024 but the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the ruling in February 2025. Monsanto had then filed a petition that took the case to the US Supreme Court. The referral to the Court strengthens the prospects for a final ruling in the long legal battle over the herbicide, analysts note. Such a verdict would set a precedent for some 67,000 other cases included in the EUR 6.5 billion provision announced in Bayer's latest quarterly report, Jefferies experts wrote. Experts at JPMorgan maintained their 'Overweight' recommendation on Bayer's shares, with a price target of EUR 50, noting that the US Supreme Court's decision to agree to hear the 'Durnell' glyphosate case is another important step towards resolving the glyphosate litigation and that Bayer's shares could rise around 5 per cent thanks to the prospect of reduced provisions. The glyphosate litigation has weighed heavily on Bayer since its acquisition of US agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018. The legal proceedings concerning the alleged carcinogenic risks have already cost several billion euros and had a significant impact on the share price.