By Helena Smolak


Bayer shares surged after a Washington appeal court reversed a $185 million verdict in favor of its Monsanto unit in a lawsuit related to alleged chemical contamination at a school in the state.

At 1041 GMT, shares of Bayer rose 4.6% to EUR28.60, and the stock has lost 15% year-to-date.

The former U.S. agrochemical company, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018, faced multiple lawsuits for alleged personal injuries related to PCB, now-prohibited chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls that were sold by Monsanto spinoff Pharmacia. The court sent the case back to a trial court for potential further proceedings after it found some of the plaintiffs' evidence unreliable, among other errors, it said.

This litigation has the greatest risk for Bayer to result in a multi-billion dollar fine among the PCB lawsuits it faces, Jefferies analysts said in a note.


Write to Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-02-24 0710ET