The German chemical company Bayer is developing a product that could be used instead of the controversial weed killer glyphosate. “We are already testing this new substance on real plants,” said CEO Bill Anderson Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper. The goal is to bring the new product onto the market in 2028. According to Anderson, this is the first innovation in this field in 30 years.
Glyphosate was originally developed by the US agricultural chemical company Monsanto. Bayer took over the company in 2018 for more than $60 billion. Since then, Bayer has been confronted with costly legal disputes: there are tens of thousands of claims for damages in the USA due to possible carcinogenic effects. At the end of January, around 54,000 cases were open – 2,000 more than in October. The provisions that Bayer had set up for this amounted to 6.3 billion US dollars, or around 5.7 billion euros, at the end of 2023.
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Bayer has always rejected the allegations against glyphosate. “Glyphosate is safe,” said Anderson at the Bayer annual press conference last Tuesday.
Anderson wants to restructure the company
Nevertheless, the group wants to pursue “new approaches inside and outside the courtrooms”. Bayer announced that this was intended to reduce legal risks and the associated uncertainties. Investors have long criticized the fact that the company has not yet managed to draw a line under the glyphosate problem.
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Bayer boss Anderson had ruled out separating the agricultural business from the rest of the group until 2026. Instead, he is focusing on putting Bayer on the road to success with a new organizational model. The group’s total costs should be reduced by two billion euros, among other things, by reducing the number of managers, said Anderson.
Bayer is in a long period of weakness. Shares in the DAX group have lost four fifths of their value on the stock exchange since 2015. The debt level is around 35 billion euros. In the 2023 financial year, the group reported a loss of almost three billion euros.
The German chemical company Bayer is developing a product that could be used instead of the controversial weed killer glyphosate. “We are already testing this new substance on real plants,” said CEO Bill Anderson Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper. The goal is to bring the new product onto the market in 2028. According to Anderson, this is the first innovation in this field in 30 years.
Glyphosate was originally developed by the US agricultural chemical company Monsanto. Bayer took over the company in 2018 for more than $60 billion. Since then, Bayer has been confronted with costly legal disputes: there are tens of thousands of claims for damages in the USA due to possible carcinogenic effects. At the end of January, around 54,000 cases were open – 2,000 more than in October. The provisions that Bayer had set up for this amounted to 6.3 billion US dollars, or around 5.7 billion euros, at the end of 2023.