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GSK PLC on Tuesday welcomed a US verdict in a lawsuit which had claimed the Zantac heartburn drug caused cancer.
Sanofi SA and Pfizer Inc were also among the firms named in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s verdict. GSK, among others, came under pressure amid worries that heartburn treatment Zantac causes cancer. Shares in its consumer healthcare spin-off Haleon PLC were also hit.
While the Zantac worries are not new, they particularly grabbed investor attention over the summer. In its listing prospectus, Haleon actually mentioned Zantac litigation. It noted GSK and Pfizer, its former owners, were named as a defendant in roughly 2,150 US ‘personal injury lawsuits involving Zantac’.
The Florida lawsuit featured roughly 50,000 claims. However, the court said plaintiffs failed to provide enough ‘admissible primary evidence’.
‘In a products liability multi-district litigation, the plaintiff must have admissible primary evidence with which to establish general causation,’ a statement read. ‘As a result, if the plaintiff does not have this evidence, then there is no genuine dispute of material fact, and the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’
In response, GSK said: ‘We welcome today’s ruling in the Zantac federal multi-district litigation in the United States District Court of Southern Florida. As you would expect, we are reviewing the court’s decision in full, and will respond in more detail as soon as possible.’
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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