Chemical security

Bayer shares sag after U.S. jury verdict in Roundup cancer trial

Bayer AG shares sank to their lowest in almost seven years on Thursday after a U.S. jury awarded $80 million to a man who claimed use of the group’s weed killer Roundup caused his cancer, with thousands of similar lawsuits looming.

The jury in San Francisco federal court on Wednesday found Bayer liable because its Monsanto unit did not warn plaintiff Edwin Hardeman of the herbicide’s alleged cancer risks.

German chemicals giant Bayer, which bought Roundup maker Monsanto last year for $63 billion, said it would appeal the verdict.

Its shares were down 1.3 percent at 55.59 euros at 1023 GMT. That added to last week’s 9.6 percent plunge after the jury concluded part-way into the trial that there was a causal link between the weedkiller and Hardeman’s disease.