By Elias Schisgall
Bayer Group will consolidate its U.S. glyphosate business into a new entity tasked with growing sales of the weedkiller Roundup following a Supreme Court ruling siding with the company against claims that the product causes cancer.
Ruveon will oversee all aspects of the glyphosate business, including pricing, production, logistics, and go-to-market strategies, Bayer said Wednesday. The reorganization will better position the company to address specific competitive dynamics in the space, the company said.
The new company will be led by Bayer veteran Alfonso Alba Ordóñez, with Steve Knodle serving as head of its commercial business. It will be based in St. Louis, Mo. and remain a Bayer Group business, the company said.
The reorganization is one step in a five-year plan in Bayer's crop science division to boost growth, resilience, and profitability, the company said.
The move follows a Supreme Court ruling last week that Bayer cannot be held liable under state law for failing to warn consumers of alleged cancer risks associated with Roundup, whose active ingredient is glyphosate.
The Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly said Roundup isn't likely to cause cancer in humans and didn't require the product to include a cancer warning. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic in humans, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bayer acquired Monsanto, the original developer of Roundup, in 2018. The company now produces around half of the world's glyphosate supply, the Journal reported.
Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com