After GSK spent the latter half of 2023 warding off concerns about the swelling Zantac product liability litigation, the company is back at the settlement table in 2024.
Thursday, GSK said it has reached a confidential settlement with plaintiff David Browne, resolving a lawsuit in California state court that was set to go to trial later this month. Now, the case is in the process of being dismissed.
"The settlement reflects the company’s desire to avoid the distraction related to protracted litigation in this case," GSK said in a statement. "GSK does not admit any liability in this settlement and will continue to vigorously defend itself based on the facts and the science in all other Zantac cases."
GSK's settlement with Browne follows several other Zantac deals struck by the drugmaker over the past 8 months. In October, GSK revealed that it had resolved 4 cases, one of which was set to go to trial in November.
The three other settlements resolved GSK's portion of bellwether breast cancer lawsuits in California from former users of the drug.
Before that, in June, GSK inked a settlement with plaintiff James Goetz about a month before a planned trial.
Intense public scrutiny on Zantac started in 2019 when an online pharmacy found high levels of a likely carcinogen in the drug and its generics. Recalls followed, and the FDA pulled the drug from the market in 2020.
In the wake of the product's market withdrawal in the U.S., tens of thousands of lawsuits have followed.
While the series of deals represent some progress for GSK in the sprawling litigation, the company still faced around 79,000 lawsuits in the U.S. as of October, Reuters reports. Analysts have estimated that it will cost the company around $5 billion to resolve the portion of the litigation, according to the news service.