By Elena Vardon

Bayer said the Federal Court of Australia closed the last pending case in the country over whether its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, a win for the German pharmaceutical and agricultural conglomerate that still faces litigation in the U.S.

The group has been hounded by lawsuits since 2018 when it closed the $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto, which developed Roundup. Critics have argued that glyphosate, the active ingredient found in Roundup, causes cancer though Bayer has long maintained that glyphosate is safe to use.

The Federal Court of Australia has now discontinued the last pending case in the country. The decision builds on an earlier case that Bayer won in the same court, where judges issued a 322-page ruling saying the weight of scientific evidence didn't support a link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer.

Bayer said the outcome was consistent with global regulatory and scientific assessments that glyphosate isn't carcinogenic, including from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

The end of all pending litigation in Australia provides some respite for Bayer as the group continues to face lawsuits in the U.S.

The company said it would seek to contain the Roundup litigation in the U.S., where it said it scored favorable outcomes in 15 of the last 22 trials.

Bayer said it would also seek a review from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether all of the state-based warning claims are preempted by federal law. The group said it would consider settlements if they are in the company's interest.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 03, 2025 09:17 ET (14:17 GMT)

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