Like several other large drugmakers, Sanofi has been busy working through a web of litigation tied to the once-popular heartburn drug Zantac. After a recent federal courtroom victory and a separate state settlement, the company is now looking to resolve a dispute over Zantac responsibilities with Boehringer Ingelheim sometime this year.
In a Wednesday memo, Sanofi said it expects a decision sometime in 2023 in the arbitration process over "indemnification rights and obligations" tied to its purchase of the drug from Boehringer Ingelheim. The earliest the decision could come is late in the first quarter, the company added.
Previously, the arbitration decision was expected by the end of 2022, Reuters reports.
Sanofi picked up rights to over-the-counter Zantac from Boehringer Ingelheim in the companies' 2016 asset swap. Under the deal, Sanofi sent its animal health business Merial to Boehringer in exchange for the German drugmaker's consumer healthcare business and 4.7 billion euros.
But as a result of the Zantac litigation and 2020 product pull over impurity concerns, a debate between the companies has kicked off over legal liabilities. The argument centers on whether Sanofi should be held liable for cancer claims tied to Zantac OTC after the large asset swap.
After the FDA ordered the product off the market in 2020, Sanofi and other companies have found themselves facing thousands of lawsuits over an alleged link to cancer. But in a significant win for the drugmakers, a judge in Florida last month ruled that the claims in the federal multidistrict litigation weren't sound. Since then, Sanofi and Pfizer settled a separate state case headed for trial in California.
Meanwhile, Sanofi also provided some hints about its expected fourth-quarter 2023 performance in the Wednesday financial modeling memo. Throughout last year, the drugmaker benefited from a strong dollar, and that trend continued in the fourth quarter.
For the fourth quarter, Sanofi said it expects currency changes to provide a 4.5% to 5.5% boost to fourth-quarter sales and a 6% to 7% boost to earnings.
Overall for the year, currency fluctuations should provide a 6.5% to 7.5% boost to sales and up to a 9% earnings boost, the drugmaker added.
Sanofi reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results Feb. 3.