British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it would pay up to $2.2bn (£1.68bn) to settle thousands of US court cases over claims that a discontinued version of its heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.
The company announced it had reached agreements with 10 law firms representing approximately 80,000 claimants. Settlement accounts for 93% of all cases.
GlaxoSmithKline will also pay $70 million to resolve a whistleblower complaint from a laboratory that accused the drugmaker of deceiving the U.S. government by concealing Zantac’s cancer risks.
GlaxoSmithKline does not admit wrongdoing in any case.
The company said in a statement to investors The settlement “eliminates the significant financial uncertainty, risk and disruption associated with protracted litigation.”
Zantac was first approved for sale in the United States in 1983.
Within five years, it became the best-selling drug in the world, with annual sales exceeding $1 billion.
In 2020, U.S. regulators removed Zantac from the market due to concerns that its key ingredient, ranitidine, could transform into a carcinogen when exposed to heat.
The move triggered tens of thousands of lawsuits against the drug’s manufacturer.
the year before, UK doctors told to stop prescribing four types of Zantac as a “precautionary measure”.
Several countries have previously raised concerns that the products may contain impurities linked to cancer.
In addition to being marketed by GlaxoSmithKline, the drug is also marketed by other major pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Pfizer and Sanofi both agreed to settle the case.
Boehringer Ingelheim is an exception. It has not announced any major settlements.
A drug called Zantac 360, which does not contain ranidine, is still on sale.
