The pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer has also suffered a defeat in the third appeal process for the glyphosate-containing weed killer Roundup.
A court in San Francisco has upheld the verdict that Bayer is liable for the cancer of the American couple Alva and Alberta Pilliod.
In 2019, the Leverkusen-based Dax group was initially sentenced to damages and a fine totaling around $ 2 billion.
The sum, which was mainly due to the so-called punitive damages - a special feature of the American legal system - was later reduced by the court to around $ 87 million.
But just as in the two previously negotiated appeal processes, the verdict now remained in principle.
A company spokesman said Bayer respected the court's decision but did not agree with it.
The judgment is not supported by the evidence in the process or applicable law.
The group is exploring its options for a further review of the case.
Bayer boss buys his own shares
On the stock exchange, the news from Tuesday night initially caused disillusionment, which temporarily pushed the price down by a good one percent. In the course of the day, however, the Dax Group's share price turned positive and closed 0.6 percent stronger at the end. Like the market as a whole, it opened unchanged on Wednesday. This could also have something to do with the fact that it was announced on Tuesday that Bayer CEO Werner Baumann had bought his own shares on a large scale.
After Bayer presented figures at the beginning of August and increased its forecast, the price had fallen to just over 46 euros, the lowest level of the year. Baumann apparently does not share the pessimism of the shareholders: On August 6, the Bayer boss bought 10,000 shares for a total of more than 474,000 euros. He has also acquired additional call warrants. Baumann had only bought Bayer shares for more than 1 million euros in mid-June, but at that time for a good 6 euros more per share.
The repeated setback in court does not change anything in the company's basic strategy: A fourth trial relating to the glyphosate dispute has recently been negotiated in California. At the same time, Bayer is trying to prevent future judgments in lower courts through a decision by the US Supreme Court. However, it has not yet been decided whether the US Supreme Court will even accept the company's motion - and if it does, it will later rule in the interests of Bayer. In previous cases, the jury had said they found the plaintiffs' professionals more convincing.
In the event that the American Supreme Court fails to deal with the glyphosate case or if it rules against Bayer, the company recently increased its provision by $ 4.5 billion. Bayer had previously held around $ 2 billion to deal with future glyphosate lawsuits. In out-of-court settlements, the company has also settled 96,000 of the approximately 125,000 lawsuits for 9.6 billion dollars.