Bayer,
the German drug company, was falling by the most in three years in Germany on Monday after it said it was stopping the trial of a new blood thinner.
The company’s Frankfurt-traded shares plunged 20% to the lowest levels since 2009. Bayer’s American depositary receipts, which trade under the ticker symbol “BAYRY” were inactive in premarket trading.
Bayer
said Sunday that late-stage testing of a drug called asundexian used to treat heart disease would be stopped because it didn’t appear to be effective.
Bayer
in January had predicted that the drug’s sales could exceed $5 billion, making it one of the key potential drivers of growth in the company’s pharmaceutical portfolio.
Separately, Bayer lost a trial over the weedkiller Roundup, which it has owned since acquiring Monsanto in 2018. It will have to pay $1.6 billion after a court in Missouri ruled against it. Bayer maintains that the key ingredient in Roundup is safe to use.
The company, famous for inventing aspirin, has settled more than 100,000 claims against it alleging that Roundup causes cancer. The shares have fallen 30% this year.
Write to Brian Swint at [email protected]
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