GSK shares were down more than 9% premarket on Monday after a Delaware court allowed more than 70,000 Zantac-related cases against the drugmaker to go ahead.
Judge Vivian Medinilla concluded on Friday that the methods used by the plaintiffs’ scientific experts were “sufficiently reliable” for presentation of evidence at a trial, according to a company release. This means that the experts can now testify before a jury about the alleged link between Zantac and cancer. The ruling does not determine liability and does not mean the court agrees with the plaintiffs.
A similar ruling on plaintiffs’ evidence was passed by a California court in March last year, but GSK steered clear of jury trials there by settling outside of court. Earlier this year, a Zantac case went before a jury for the first time in Chicago but ultimately ended in the defendant’s favor.
The UK drugmaker said it disagrees with Medinilla’s ruling and will seek an appeal. It claimed that the decision contradicts a 2022 ruling by Judge Robin Rosenberg to toss out thousands of lawsuits filed at a federal court in Florida. Rosenberg said those plaintiffs’ allegations were based on “flawed” and “unreliable” evidence.
Sanofi, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim are also affected by the Delaware court decision. Sanofi said Friday that it will “vigorously defend itself against these claims” and Boehringer told Endpoints News the same in an email statement. Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The troubles with Zantac started in 2019 when GSK recalled the drug after the probable human carcinogen NDMA was found in some products. People who developed cancer after taking Zantac then started filing lawsuits claiming that the companies behind the drug knew, or should have known, it posed cancer risk and should have warned patients accordingly.
In April, Sanofi agreed to settle around 4,000 cases that were pending in state courts outside of Delaware.