Pfizer agrees to settle over 10,000 Zantac cancer lawsuits in US: Report

Pfizer agrees to settle over 10,000 Zantac cancer lawsuits in US: Report

Pfizer has agreed to settle over 10,000 cases accusing it of not warning about the cancer risks of its Zantac heartburn drug, as per a report by Bloomberg. This settlement is the largest so far in this legal battle.

These agreements involve cases spread across US state courts, but they don’t fully resolve Pfizer’s legal issues related to Zantac, the report said, citing sources familiar with the development. Financial specifics of these agreements are not immediately disclosed.

Zantac has changed hands between different drugmakers over its more than 30-year history as a popular antacid in the US. Zantac, initially developed by GSK and Warner-Lambert, entered the US market as a prescription drug in 1983 and later became an over-the-counter heartburn remedy in 1996. Sanofi, which acquired the drug in 2017, recalled it in 2019 following tests from an independent lab showing potential risks.

Other Zantac manufacturers, like GSK Plc and Sanofi, have also settled similar cases in the past.Â

Last month, Sanofi agreed to pay over $100 million to resolve around 4,000 Zantac cases, as per Bloomberg report.Â

While settlements are being reached, GSK is currently facing its first US jury trial over claims regarding Zantac’s risks.Â

News of Pfizer’s settlement came to light in a filing in a state court in Delaware related to the ongoing Chicago trial. There are over 70,000 Zantac lawsuits filed in Delaware, where a judge is considering the strength of scientific evidence in these cases for potential trials.

A filing on April 29 by Zantac plaintiffs’ attorneys indicated that the Chicago judge approved the case for trial, specifically mentioning GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, another former Zantac manufacturer, because “Pfizer had already settled.”