Bayer Considers an End to Roundup After $611M Verdict

With thousands of lawsuits pending and legislation stalled, Bayer is weighing legal and strategic responses, including paying damages or seeking federal review, to address its Roundup challenges.

By Jack Suntrup

Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Oct. 10, 2025

3 min read

German life sciences giant Bayer is plotting its next moves after a big loss last month when the Missouri Supreme Court declined to reconsider a $611 million Roundup verdict against the company.

Its options could include stopping production of glyphosate, the active ingredient found in the Roundup weedkiller. Brian Leake, spokesperson for Bayer, said in a statement Thursday that the current situation was untenable.

Amid a mountain of similar lawsuits, the company has lobbied for legislation to block claims that Bayer failed to warn of health risks associated with glyphosate.

"There is a limit to what we can do, which is why we support legislation at both a federal and state level," Leake said.

"If not addressed, the future of glyphosate and other valuable crop protection tools and critical R&D for new products may be at stake," he said.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 30 rejected Bayer's request to appeal a $611 million jury verdict in favor of four plaintiffs who originally sued in Cole County in 2022.

Three plaintiffs said use of glyphosate caused their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A plaintiff's spouse also sued and won.

"The company respectfully disagrees with the court’s decision and is considering its legal options," Leake said. Options include paying out the judgment or asking a federal court for review.

Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, acquired Creve Coeur, Missouri-based Monsanto in 2018. The company has since been dogged by tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits, including thousands filed in Missouri.

The North America headquarters of Bayer’s Crop Science division, which produces Roundup, is based in Creve Coeur.

The company has paid out $11 billion in settling nearly 100,000 lawsuits. About 61,000 lawsuits remain pending, according to a website tracking the litigation.

In the United States, glyphosate, the active ingredient used in Roundup, has been registered as a pesticide since 1974, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA has found that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

But Bayer-backed legislation in Missouri to block failure-to-warn lawsuits was strongly opposed by trial attorneys who have argued the measure would impede on the constitutional right to a trial by jury.

The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled House on a narrow 85-72 vote in February — three more than needed to pass a bill.

It died in the Senate, with a group of nine Republicans calling it "dead on arrival."

Amy Gunn, a personal injury trial attorney who has worked on cases against Bayer, said at the time that if the company is claiming glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer, “Prove it in a court.”

“Don’t go to the Legislature and buy immunity, which is what they’re doing,” she said in an interview.

Bayer AG CEO Bill Anderson, in an interview last year with the Post-Dispatch, called the situation unsustainable.

“The scientifically staffed regulator — in this case, the EPA — can put tens of thousands of hours of scientists’ time into evaluations with access to all the studies that have been done over 50 years," Anderson said. "And then we expect a jury of non-scientists to render an opinion on the same question in a court. That doesn’t make sense."

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Bayer could stop sales of Roundup.

“We’re pretty much reaching the end of the road,” Anderson told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re talking months, not years.”