With potentially 125,000 US lawsuits from plaintiffs charging that Monsanto’s Roundup-branded herbicide caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma believed to be pending, current brand owner Bayer reportedly has reached verbal agreements to resolve a substantial portion.

Pointing out that the current estimate tops the number acknowledged by Bayer to date, US reports said the deals earmarked for settlement cover an estimated 50,000 to 85,000 cases. This is far more than the 52,000 cases acknowledged by the group up to now, though Ken Feinberg, the US chief Roundup mediator, earlier put the total at 85,000.

The settlements are said to be part of an overall $10 billion plan by Bayer to end the expensive and time-consuming legislation it inherited with its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto and has dogged its share price.

With some lawyers still holding out, news agencies said payouts for settled cases could range from a few million dollars to a few thousand each. Bayer is thought likely to announce the settlement in June, following approval by its supervisory board.

The German group’s US subsidiary told national media only that “progress” had been made in negotiations with plaintiffs, thereby repeating earlier statements that Bayer “will consider a resolution if it is financially reasonable and provides a process to resolve potential future litigation.”

Under terms of the deals reported by Bloomberg, Roundup will continue to be sold in the US for use in backyards and farms without any safety warning, and plaintiffs’ attorneys will agree to stop taking new cases or advertising for new clients.

In April, Bayer hinted that it might back out of some previously agreed deals for financial reasons, with the Covid-19 pandemic taking its toll.

Some reports said Bayer was simultaneously pressing ahead with appeals of early cases it lost in court. Altogether, juries from three trials have ordered the group to pay a combined $2.4 billion in damage, with judges later reducing the awards to $191 million.