GSK says Canada court dismissed Zantac litigation

Bengaluru: The British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed a proposed class action in Canada against heartburn drug Zantac over increased cancer risk, drugmaker GSK Plc said on Friday.

First approved in 1983, Zantac became the world's best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales.

Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and finally Sanofi. All four drugmakers, citing scientific consensus, have repeatedly asserted that Zantac does not cause cancer, ahead of an upcoming US trial for GSK.

"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 British company said in a statement on Friday, adding it welcomed the decision.