Zhitong Financial APP learned that recently, there has been an uproar over the recall of heartburn drug Zantac (ranitidine), which has greatly wiped out the market value of a number of pharmaceutical companies involved. To reassure investors, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and SNY.US issued statements on Thursday defending their positions at Zantac, pointing out that since 2019, studies conducted by different institutions and companies have shown that there is no evidence that ranitidine causes cancer. As of press time, GlaxoSmithKline PLC was down 0.22% before trading, while Sanofi was up 1.73%.
It is understood that earlier this week, the two companies lost billions of dollars in market value as a result of lawsuits surrounding Zantac. In 2019, Zantac was recalled globally for "unacceptable levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine" (N-nitrosodimethylamine is a carcinogen, or NDMA). Companies including Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Pfizer Inc (PFE.US) and Boehringer Ingelheim (Boehringer Ingelheim) all faced lawsuits after the recall.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Sanofi both pointed out in their press releases on Aug. 11 that there had been no substantial progress in response to the recent speculative comments on the US Zantac lawsuit compared with previous disclosures.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC said GlaxoSmithKline PLC was listed as a defendant in about 3000 personal injury cases brought by federal and state courts, as well as many unfiled claims registered in a census established by the court of the Zantac Multi-District Litigation (MDL) procedure. Federal courts have also accepted class action and third-party payer class action. In addition, there are more than 100 personal injury cases pending trial in Canada and a class action lawsuit in Israel.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC added that it had sent a notice to Haleon (HLN.US) about potential claims for possible liability related to the over-the-counter drug Zantac. Both GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Sanofi said that the first trial is now scheduled to begin in California courts on February 13, 2023.
Sanofi said it was confident in its defense of the lawsuit and insisted on the safety of the drug.
The French drugmaker said scientific and regulatory assessments of Zantac since 2019 showed no evidence of harm to consumers, and even assessments of existing data by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Drug Administration (EMA) found no evidence of ranitidine causing cancer.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC also pointed out that since 2019, investigations conducted by the company, FDA and EMA have independently concluded that there is no evidence of a causal relationship between ranitidine and cancer. The British pharmaceutical giant added that it would defend itself against all baseless allegations.
At the same time, Pfizer Inc also said earlier that the outcome of the lawsuit is unlikely to have a significant impact on the company.
Sanofi also said the company was qualified to sell Zantac over-the-counter drugs from Boehringer Ingelheim in 2017, less than three years after the lawsuit began. Sanofi said that for more than 35 years, Zantac prescription and over-the-counter drug sales accounted for a very small proportion of its total product sales. The company points out that Sanofi's potential historical brand responsibility has not been fully transferred to Sanofi after it has been qualified to sell Zantac.