GSK ready to defend claims at state level after federal judge dismisses Zantac suits
Drew Angerer
GSK (NYSE:GSK) issued a statement on Wednesday after a federal judge in Florida ruled that the company and Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) would not have to face thousands of lawsuits related to claims that heartburn drug Zantac allegedly cause cancer.
The British Pharma giant welcomed the ruling and said that after 12 epidemiological studies conducted looking at human data regarding the use of ranitidine, the scientific consensus was that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer.
GSK added that the court dismissed all Multi-District Litigation (MDL) cases alleging the five remaining cancers in the MDL (liver, bladder, pancreatic, esophageal, and stomach).
The company noted that it will continue to defend itself, including against all claims brought at the state level.
The U.K.-based company has always defended their stance on heartburn drug Zantac (ranitidine). The company said in August this year that since 2019 researches conducted by different agencies and the companies have shown that there was no evidence of ranitidine causing cancer.
Zantac lawsuits has been a cause of concern for not only GSK, Sanofi, and GSK consumer spinoff Haleon (HLN), but also Pfizer (PFE), Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA), Perrigo (PRGO), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY), and Boehringer Ingelheim.
In August, the companies overall shed millions of dollars in market value on concerns over Zantac litigation.
Zantac was pulled from the market in the U.S., in 2020, and from the EU due to unacceptable levels of potential cancer causing compound, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Lawsuits followed in the wake of the recall, on the companies, including, Sanofi, GSK, Pfizer (PFE) and Boehringer Ingelheim.
GSK had said earlier that it was named as a defendant in ~3,000 filed personal injury cases in federal and state court and numerous unfiled claims registered in a census established by the Court presiding over the Zantac MDL proceeding.
GSK -1.66% to $37.29 premarket Dec. 7