A California jury on October 30 found Bayer liable in a case brought by a man who claimed his cancer was due to exposure to the company’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer and ordered it to pay $332 million in damages.
The jury verdict was the third defeat for Bayer, after the company was ordered to pay a total of $175 million and $1.25 million in two other Roundup lawsuits.
Bayer said it would appeal all three verdicts.
Before the three consecutive losses, Bayer had won nine cases in a row.
After this week’s loss, investor nervousness is mounting about the company’s future litigation liabilities.
“Bayer’s strategy is to file lawsuits only when it believes it has a good chance of winning. This has worked nine times, however has now failed thrice” said Markus Manns, a fund manager at Union Investment.
“Bayer should review its strategy again now to avoid further negative headlines,” he added.