GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) shares fell 3.6% after it said it "respectfully disagrees" with a ruling by a California state court in litigation related to claims that the company's former heartburn drug, Zantac, caused cancer.
Yesterday's ruling was made in a ‘Sargon’ hearing, a state-specific legal decision on the admissibility of expert opinion, where the ruling related to whether California resident James Goetz's experts can testify at trial as part of the claim he has brought.
The pharma giant said the litigation is still at an early stage and that the scientific consensus is that "there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer".
The FTSE 100 group pointed out that the ruling does not mean that the court agrees with the scientific conclusions of the plaintiff's experts or their "litigation-driven science", adding that it will press additional defences and that the plaintiff still needs to prove his case at trial.
This ruling does not affect other state cases or the December 2022 'Daubert' ruling made in the federal multi-district litigation, the company added.
Investor hopes over Zantac legal issues had been raised from the Daubert ruling in December, when a state judge in Florida threw out claims, ruling that scientific evidence provided by the claimants was flawed, suggesting other courts may come to share this view and the pharma companies that sold the drug could get off lightly, with Sanofi and Pfizer stock also having been hit by worries about the legal liabilities over the drug.