Trending: Bayer Shares Tank After Key Clinical Trial Halted Early, Roundup Verdict

1513 GMT - Bayer is among the most mentioned companies across news items over the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data. Shares in the German pharmaceutical-and-agricultural group suffered their worst one-day percentage loss on news that a clinical trial for a cardiovascular drug candidate that Bayer saw as a key potential growth driver was halted early after showing poor efficacy, and that the company faces a payout of $1.56 billion in a case related to its Roundup weedkiller. Bayer said the efficacy of experimental drug asundexian was found to be inferior to the drug against which it was being compared in a late-stage trial in patients with atrial fibrillation, a cardiac rhythm disorder. A separate trial continues investigating potential prevention of ischemic stroke for the same drug, for which the company in January projected peak sales exceeding 5 billion euros ($5.46 billion). This came after a Missouri jury delivered on Friday the fourth decision in a row to go against Bayer in its legal battle over Roundup. Analysts at Citi called the news a double whammy for the Bayer investment case. However, Bernstein analysts Gunther Zechmann and James Hooper said the share reaction is overdone. Shares at 1456 GMT fell 19% to EUR33.53, trading at levels last seen in 2009. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. ([e-mail])

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November 20, 2023 10:28 ET (15:28 GMT)

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