British pharmaceutical company GSK on Wednesday said it swung into a net loss in the third quarter after settling lawsuits in the United States surrounding its Zantac heartburn drug.
GSK suffered a loss after tax of £58 million ($75 million) in the July-September period compared with net profit of £1.5 billion one year earlier.
Revenue dipped 1.7 percent to £8 billion in the reporting period, a statement added.
GSK earlier this month agreed to pay $2.3 billion to end lawsuits alleging that Zantac caused cancer, despite the group not admitting liability.
Stripping out the litigation costs, GSK said Wednesday that core operating profit increased five percent in the third quarter.
“Strong growth in specialty medicines helped to offset lower vaccine sales and reflected successful new product launches in oncology and HIV,” chief executive Emma Walmsley said in the earnings statement.
She added that GSK was on track to deliver its full-year guidance.
GSK recently reached agreements with 10 plaintiff firms together representing 93 percent, or about 80,000, of the Zantac liability cases against the group in the United States.
It agreed a payment of up to $2.2 billion to resolve the cases — and reached a deal in principle to pay $70 million to settle a separate Zantac case with US laboratory Valisure.
“While the scientific consensus remains that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that Zantac increases the risk of any cancer, GSK strongly believes that these settlements are in the best long-term interests of the company and its shareholders,” the group said Wednesday.
Shares in GSK opened 1.9-percent lower in London following the results update.
Over-the-counter treatment Zantac, known also by its non-commercial name ranitidine, was manufactured by several rivals including the French group Sanofi and US drugmaker Pfizer before it was withdrawn in 2019.
In recent years GSK has won several court cases on the issue in the United States, while signing several other settlements to avoid litigation.
