GSK, a major UK pharmaceutical company, has agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits in the US related to its heartburn medication, Zantac. This decision comes after claims that a version of the drug could cause cancer.
Settlement Details
The settlement affects about 80,000 claimants represented by ten different law firms, covering 93% of all the cases filed against GSK. In addition, the company will pay $70 million to settle a whistleblower complaint from a laboratory that accused GSK of hiding Zantac’s cancer risks from the US government. Importantly, GSK did not admit any wrongdoing in these cases.
GSK stated that these settlements will help eliminate the “significant financial uncertainty” and distractions caused by ongoing litigation.
The Rise and Fall of Zantac
Zantac was first approved in the US in 1983 and quickly became the world’s best-selling drug, generating over $1 billion in annual sales. However, in 2020, US regulators pulled Zantac from the market after concerns arose that its active ingredient, ranitidine, could break down into a potentially cancer-causing substance when exposed to heat.
As a precaution, UK doctors had already stopped prescribing certain Zantac products the previous year due to similar worries. This led to a flood of lawsuits against various manufacturers of the drug.
Other Manufacturers’ Responses
While GSK is settling, other companies that have marketed Zantac, including Pfizer and Sanofi, have also reached agreements to settle cases. Boehringer Ingelheim, however, has not yet announced any major settlements.
Despite the controversy, a new version of Zantac called Zantac 360, which does not contain ranitidine, is still available for sale.
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