GSK settles two California lawsuits over heartburn drug Zantac, by Reuters

(Reuters) – British drugmaker GSK said on Wednesday it had agreed to settle two lawsuits in California that alleged its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.

GSK does not admit any liability in any of the agreements, it said in a statement.

The drugmaker has settled a number of Zantac-related lawsuits over the past 12 months, including several in California.

California is generally seen as a more challenging legal environment for multinational companies because the courts are known to be more plaintiff-friendly.

Former Zantac manufacturers GSK, Pfizer (NYSE:), Sanofi (NASDAQ: ) and Boehringer Ingelheim face approximately 4,000 claims in California state court and approximately 2,000 in various other state courts across the country.

Most of the cases against GSK are in Delaware, where the British drugmaker faces more than 70,000 lawsuits.

A Delaware judge’s decision in June to allow the lawsuits in the state to proceed dealt a blow to GSK, which appealed the decision.

Last month, the Delaware Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal by GSK and the other former Zantac makers.