GSK PLC said it welcomed a legal ruling in Canada that saw a proposed class action made on behalf of users of a heartburn drug thrown out.
The Brentford, UK-based pharmaceuticals giant noted the court said there was little evidence that ranitidine, or Zantac, leads to an increased risk of developing any type of cancer.
"Given the uncontroverted evidence that neither ranitidine nor NDMA are reliably associated with increased cancer risk, and the absence of evidence that ranitidine or NDMA cause cancer in humans, the plaintiff has failed to raise a bona fide triable issue regarding injury due to the ingestion and/or purchase of ranitidine," the court said.
N-Nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMAs, are a type of chemical compound.
GSK commented: "GSK will continue to vigorously defend proposed class actions by ranitidine users that have been filed in Ontario and Quebec as well as individual actions filed by ranitidine users in Canada."
The case was brought against Sandoz Canada, part of Sandoz, which is itself a unit of Novartis.
Zantac, launched in the 1980s, was one of the first blockbuster drugs with sales of more than US$1bn a year and was key to GSK’s success.
However, since then the drug has had multiple owners and was recalled in 2019 after the detection of NDMA, a probable human carcinogen, as an impurity. That triggered a wave of lawsuits in the US, which are ongoing.
Separately, the FTSE 100-listed pharma group confirmed it has sold part of its stake in consumer healthcare business Haleon PLC, which it demerged last year.
GSK has agreed to sell 240mln shares at a price of 335p per share, raising around £804mln.
This reduces GSK's stake in the owner of Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol and Advil painkillers and Centrum vitamins to 10.3% from 13% before.
GSK and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) (which holds a 32% stake in Haleon), have each undertaken not to dispose of any further shares in Haleon for a period of 60 days following settlement of the placing.