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GSK (New York Stock Exchange: GSK) US Depository Shares lost ~2% pre-market on Wednesday after a new report from Bloomberg Business Week claimed the British drugmaker chose to remain silent about the cancer risks of the withdrawn heartburn drug Zantac.
Zantac, also known as ranitidine, was withdrawn from the US market in 2020 amid concerns about unacceptable levels of the potential human carcinogen, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
Since then, the makers of Zantac’s generics, including Sanofi (SNY) (OTCPK:SNYNF), GSK (GSK), Pfizer (PFE), and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, have faced thousands of lawsuits for failing to adequately warn of the risks to antacid health. .
Citing court filings, studies, FDA transcripts, and new drug applications obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, Bloomberg said the FDA considered cancer risks when giving the drug the green light, but GSK (GSK) withheld key data from the study.
Worse yet, the company, then known as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), supported flawed studies to minimize concerns and chose not to use methods like routine shipping and storage that would have lessened the impact.
Seeking Alpha contributor Junius notes that GSK (GSK) investors have ignored Zantac-related litigation risks “for far too long”.
