Monsanto: Bayer stock price plunges after $289 million Roundup cancer ruling

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Insider

• Shares in Bayer
  dove more than 11% Monday after a landmark ruling against
  Monsanto, a US agriculture giant owned by the German pharma
  giant.
• Monsanto was ordered to pay $289 million to a
  groundskeeper who alleged that the ingredients of a weedkiller
  produced by the company caused him to develop cancer.
• Johnson suffers from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and alleged
  that frequent contact with glyphosate, an ingredient in Roundup
  and RangerPro weedkillers produced by Monsanto, had been a
  substantial contributor to his illness.
• 
  You
  can track Bayer’s share price on Markets Insider.
  

Shares of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer
plunged on Monday, the first day of trading after a landmark
legal ruling that could cost the company almost $290 million.

On Friday, Monsanto, the huge American agriculture business owned
by Bayer, was
ordered by a California jury to pay damages of $289 million
to high school groundsman Dewayne Johnson after he
claimed that ingredients used in a weedkiller had contributed to
his cancer.

Johnson has non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and alleged that
frequent contact with glyphosate, an ingredient in Roundup and
RangerPro weedkillers produced by Monsanto, had been a
substantial contributor to his illness. Bayer denies that
glyphosate causes cancer when used correctly.

Johnson’s was the first lawsuit to go to trial alleging
glyphosate causes cancer, but Monsanto faces more than 5,000
similar lawsuits across the United States. The fine sets a
precedent for future cases against the company.

Investors have taken flight from Monsanto’s owner, Bayer,
as a result of the decision, and the fear of further similar
rulings, with shares shedding more than 10% of their value on
Monday. By 1:30 p.m. BST (8:30 a.m. ET), shares are trading at
€82.87 ($94.52) per share, a loss of 11.1%.