Sanofi Resolves 4,000 Zantac Cancer Claims in US State Courts

1. Sanofi has agreed to settle approximately 4,000 personal injury claims related to their discontinued heartburn drug Zantac (ranitidine), which is linked to cancer risks.
2. This settlement applies to all U.S. state courts except Delaware.
3. Terms of the deal were not revealed; however, Sanofi maintains that the settlement "reflects the limited time during which Sanofi marketed Zantac" and "will have no material financial impact".
4. Zantac was initially developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and approved in 1983. It was later acquired by Sanofi through an asset swap with Boehringer Ingelheim before being taken off the market in 2019 due to concerns about its main ingredient, ranitidine, potentially turning into a carcinogen under certain conditions.
5. In 2020, the FDA ordered all companies to remove Zantac from the market, and it has since returned with a reformulated version that excludes ranitidine.
6. Companies involved in federal litigation, such as Pfizer, received a significant legal victory in 2022 when a Florida district judge ruled against the science supporting the claim that Zantac can cause cancer, freeing them from approximately 50,000 cases consolidated in the Florida court.
7. Roughly 75,000 state claims remain consolidated in Delaware, with about 20,000 involving Sanofi.
8. Throughout the proceedings, Sanofi and other companies have consistently denied that Zantac causes cancer, citing extensive evaluations by the medical, scientific, and regulatory communities.
9. Last year, an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of Sanofi in a dispute with Boehringer Ingelheim over indemnification from future liabilities related to Zantac cancer claims.
10. The settlement agreement requires the approval of individual plaintiffs, and Sanofi has emphasized that it does not imply any concessions of liability.