UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced it will pay up to $2.2 billion (£1.68 billion) to settle thousands of lawsuits in the United States related to claims that its discontinued heartburn medication, Zantac, caused cancer. The settlement agreements involve ten law firms representing approximately 80,000 claimants, covering 93% of all active cases against the company.
In addition to the settlement, GSK has agreed to pay $70 million to resolve a whistleblower complaint from a laboratory that accused the company of defrauding the U.S. government by concealing potential cancer risks associated with Zantac. However, GSK has stated that it does not admit any wrongdoing in connection with these cases.
In a statement to investors, GSK emphasized that while there is “no consistent or reliable evidence” to suggest that Zantac increases the risk of cancer, the settlements will help eliminate significant financial uncertainty for the company.
Zantac was first approved for sale in the United States in 1983 and quickly became the world’s best-selling drug, generating annual sales of over $1 billion. However, in 2020, U.S. regulators ordered the withdrawal of Zantac from the market due to concerns that ranitidine, a key ingredient in the medication, could transform into a potentially cancer-causing substance when exposed to heat. This regulatory action led to a surge of lawsuits against Zantac’s manufacturers.
The previous year, UK doctors were advised to stop prescribing four types of Zantac as a precautionary measure following reports of impurities found in the drug in multiple countries.
While GSK was one of the primary marketers of Zantac, other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim, also sold the medication. Pfizer and Sanofi have reached their own settlement agreements related to the lawsuits, while Boehringer Ingelheim has not announced any significant settlements to date.
Despite the controversies surrounding the original formulation of Zantac, a new version of the medication, Zantac 360, which does not contain ranitidine, is still being sold on the market today.
