GSK Wins Zantac Cancer Lawsuit in Florida

By Helena Smolak

GSK won a Florida state court lawsuit against a claim that its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused prostate cancer, its latest victory in a raft of legal disputes about the treatment.

The British pharmaceutical giant said late Thursday that the court found that GSK wasn't liable for the plaintiff's colorectal cancer. The company will seek dismissal of an upcoming case in Florida, one of four filed in the state, and continue to defend itself against remaining claims in other jurisdictions, it said.

It is also in the process of appealing to the Delaware Supreme Court challenging a lower court's Daubert ruling to allow jury trials and expert testimony in Zantac litigation within the state, after its first appeal to the Superior Court was rejected in July. GSK said the court's ruling contradicts the application of the Daubert standard--a rule governing the admissibility of expert testimony in Delaware and federal courts.

The latest victory marks the second Daubert ruling in GSK's favor out of three such cases.

In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested manufacturers take Zantac, jointly owned by several pharmaceutical companies, off the market. The FDA concluded that the drug's ingredient, ranitidine, can form a cancer-causing contaminant, N-Nitrosodimethylamine, over time or through heat exposure.

In early U.K. trading, GSK shares traded 0.3% lower at 1,590.5 pence.

Write to Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 16, 2024 03:38 ET (07:38 GMT)

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