Shares in German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer climbed nearly 13% on Friday after the company won a legal battle in the US related to its Roundup weedkiller.
ADVERTISEMENTAt the time of writing, shares in Bayer were up 12.38% at €29.67, after the company won a legal battle to limit liability from claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
The plaintiff, David Schaffner, a Pennsylvania landscaper, claimed that Bayer’s Monsanto unit violated state law by failing to put a cancer warning on the label for Roundup.
However, a US appeals court said that federal law governing the pesticide’s warning label trumped Pennsylvania laws.
Bayer said, according to Reuters, that it was pleased with the decision and has maintained that Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate are safe, and said it “continues to stand fully behind” the brand.
The German pharma company completed the acquisition of Monsanto, an agriculture company, for $63 billion (around €57bn) in June 2018.
In the past 12 months, Bayer’s stock has fallen about 49% after the firm was hit with billions of euros of damages over Monsanto’s claimed mishandling of the weedkiller product.
Sales of Roundup, one of the most widely used weedkillers in the US, was phased out for home use by Bayer last year.