“The subject of glyphosate litigation is an existential topic for our company because it threatens to rob us of our ability to continue to innovate for farmers and for food security,” Anderson said in a speech Thursday at the Executives’ Club of Chicago, referring to the Roundup report. Key ingredient.
The legal woes led Bayer to set aside $16 billion to resolve Roundup lawsuits. About $10 billion of that reserve has been spent so far, a company spokesperson said.
Bayer is weighing whether to use a controversial legal maneuver, called two-stage bankruptcy in Texas, to try to settle tens of thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming Roundup causes cancer, people familiar told Bloomberg in March with business thinking. Bayer has vigorously defended its claim that glyphosate and glyphosate-based formulations are safe.
Anderson, in his speech, called the glyphosate lawsuits baseless and bad for the company and the employees who lost their jobs as a result.
The chemical conglomerate spends more on lawsuits than the 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 billion) spent annually on R&D, the CEO said. He said Bayer is the largest investor in agriculture R&D and legal issues jeopardize progress needed to feed a booming global population by mid-century with less water and land .
“This is actually a very serious thing for American agriculture,” Anderson said. “It is estimated that the cost of groceries for an average family of four in the United States would increase by more than 40% if glyphosate was removed from the agricultural system.”
Crops genetically modified to resist the application of the weedkiller glyphosate account for almost all corn and soybean plantations in the United States and Brazil.
Anderson said that despite the U.S. scientific and regulatory communities giving the green light to glyphosate, the company still faces billions of dollars in lawsuits each year. Bayer inherited the Roundup lawsuits through its 2018 purchase of agricultural giant Monsanto for $63 billion.
The German company’s shares have lost around 72% of their value since the Monsanto takeover. Investor concern grew over Bayer’s liability, ultimately leading to the departure of former CEO Werner Baumann. In addition to legal issues, the company is grappling with other issues, including a weak drug pipeline and high debt.
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