Drew Angerer
French pharmaceutical juggernaut Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) recently made a strategic move by announcing its agreement to settle approximately 4,000 lawsuits across all U.S. states except Delaware related to allegations connecting its Zantac heartburn medication to cancer.
Characterized by the company as an effort to circumvent the costs and constant disruptions tied to litigation, the settlement doesn’t indicate an admission of guilt or liability on Sanofi’s part.
The financial specifics of the settlement remain confidential. However, Sanofi emphasized that the settlement amount mirrors the brief period during which Zantac was marketed and the robust legal defenses available to the company. Notably, these settlements are not expected to have a significant financial impact.
The settlement process is contingent upon the approval of the individual plaintiffs and is anticipated to require some time to reach completion.
Sanofi disclosed its stance of staunchly defending itself against the Zantac litigation from the onset and intends to continue doing so. The company cited insufficiency of evidence linking the drug’s active ingredient, ranitidine, to the alleged cancers raised by the plaintiffs. Sanofi further highlighted that medical, scientific, and regulatory scrutiny has discredited the claims of Zantac causing cancer.
Back in late 2019 and 2020, Zantac gained significant attention after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration affirmed the formation of the carcinogen NDMA (n-nitrosodimethylamine) over time or in high temperatures. Consequently, regulatory directives were issued to withdraw the drug from the market. Sanofi has since reintroduced Zantac to the market, now formulated with famotidine as the active ingredient.
While Sanofi has opted for a settlement approach, other Zantac manufacturers like British pharmaceutical giant GSK (GSK) have chosen to address individual Zantac cases outside of broader settlement schemes.