Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits alleging it failed to warn patients about the cancer-causing potential of its heartburn drug Zantac.
Although lawsuits have been filed in state courts across the country, the agreement does not fully resolve Pfizer’s exposure to claims related to Zantac and cancer. According to Bloomberg News.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The Post has reached out to Pfizer for comment.
Zantac was introduced to the market in 1983 by Glaxo Holdings, now part of the GlaxoSmithKline company.
By 1988, it was the world’s best-selling drug, with patients reporting benefits for conditions such as heartburn, ulcers, and acid reflux.
Glaxo’s patent on Zantac’s active ingredient ranitidine expired in 1997.
In the same year, pharmaceutical companies began working on developing generic versions of the drug.
In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration asked drug companies to pull Zantac and its generic versions from the market after a carcinogen called NDMA was detected in samples of the drug.
Thousands of lawsuits against Pfizer, GSK, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim began piling up in federal and state courts.
Last month, Sanofi reached an agreement in principle with Zantac to settle 4,000 cancer-related lawsuits.
Sanofi did not disclose financial terms of the deal, but However, Bloomberg News reported The company will pay $100 million, or $25,000 to each plaintiff.
The agreement, which still needs to be finalized, will result in most cases against the French drugmaker being resolved in U.S. state courts, with the exception of Delaware, where the majority of the cases are pending.
Sanofi currently has about 20,000 lawsuits filed against Zantac in Delaware state courts.
A Delaware Superior Court judge in Wilmington is considering the fate of about 70,000 lawsuits filed against Sanofi and other defendants including GSK, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim.
A Sanofi spokesperson said: “Sanofi is resolving these cases not because we believe the claims have any merit, but rather to avoid the expense and disruption of ongoing litigation.” said.
Sanofi and GSK lost a combined $45 billion from their market capitalization in the summer of 2022 after concerns about Zantac first emerged.
GSK has already settled a number of Zantac-related lawsuits in California.
Terms of these settlements were not disclosed.
Last week, a lawsuit filed by a Chicago-area woman who claims she developed colorectal cancer after taking Zantac for nearly 20 years was heard, the first trial involving someone who used the drug. Ta.
Angela Valadez, 89, filed a lawsuit against GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim.
She claimed in her lawsuit that the drug’s active ingredient, ranitidine, converts over time into a carcinogen known as NDMA.
“We are confident in our position, which is based on the facts and science, and look forward to presenting our case in court,” a GSK spokesperson said in a statement.
with post wire
