MADRID, 20 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The shares of the German chemical and pharmaceutical group Bayer sank as much as 21.3% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange this Monday, after the company confirmed the interruption of a study for the development of a drug to reduce the risk of stroke and a new fine in the United States related to the use of glyphosate in 'Roundup', Monsanto's herbicide.

As the session progressed in Frankfurt, Bayer shares managed to partly offset the losses recorded at the opening and, shortly before the mid-session, were trading at a discount of around 18% compared to last Friday's close.

In this way, the market capitalization of the Leverkusen multinational has been reduced by more than 7,000 million euros in just a few hours after the largest intraday stock market crash in Bayer's history.

This Sunday, the multinational announced the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) to suspend the study of the anticoagulant asundexian due to lower than expected efficacy.

Previously, a jury in Missouri (United States) ordered the company to compensate with 1,560 million dollars (1,429 million euros) to a group of plaintiffs who alleged that they had become ill due to the use of the herbicide 'Roundup', marketed by Monsanto, according to Bloomberg.

In this sense, Bayer, which two years ago reserved up to 16 billion dollars (14.66 billion euros) to face more than 100,000 cases in this regard, assured that it will appeal.

Bayer is currently in another Roundup trial before a state court jury in Philadelphia and is scheduled to begin another case in California in December, with at least three other cases set to begin in Philadelphia in the coming months.