GSK Disagrees With Court Ruling to Allow Plaintiff-Expert Testimony in Goetz Case

By Joe Hoppe

GSK PLC said Friday that it disagrees with a ruling in the Goetz case by the California state court late Thursday to allow the plaintiff's experts to testify, and said there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer.

The pharma major said the scientific consensus is that ranitidine--the active substance in Zantac, a heartburn treatment that both GSK and Sanofi SA had marketed--wasn't carcinogenic, following 13 epidemiological studies.

The company said the litigation is still at an early stage, and the decision relates only to the question of whether the plaintiff's experts can testify at trial in the Goetz case, not that the court agrees with the plaintiff's experts.

GSK said it will press additional defenses and said the plaintiff still needs to prove his case at trial.

It added that the ruling doesn't affect other state cases, or the December 2022 Daubert ruling.

In December, a U.S. judge dismissed a series of lawsuits around Zantac. The lawsuits--which were measured in the tens of thousands--alleged Zantac could cause cancer. The judge concluded on Dec. 6 that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim that Zantac's active substance ranitidine was in fact carcinogenic.

Shares at 1011 GMT were down 56.8 pence, or 4%, at 1,380.6 pence.

Write to Joe Hoppe at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2023 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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