British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to settle two lawsuits in California alleging that its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. GSK stated it does not admit to any liability in these settlements.
Over the past 12 months, GSK has resolved a series of lawsuits related to Zantac, including several in California. California courts are often viewed as more challenging for multinational companies due to their tendency to be more favorable to plaintiffs.
Former Zantac manufacturers GSK, Pfizer (PFE.N), Sanofi (SASY.PA), and Boehringer Ingelheim face approximately 4,000 claims in California state court and around 2,000 in various other state courts across the country.
The majority of the cases against GSK are in Delaware, where the drugmaker faces over 70,000 lawsuits. A June decision by a Delaware judge to allow these lawsuits to proceed was unfavorable to GSK, which has since appealed the decision.
Last month, the Delaware Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal filed by GSK and the other former Zantac manufacturers.
