GSK shares ease after plaintiff in first Zantac lawsuit drops case

LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in GlaxoSmithKline fell slightly in early trading on Wednesday but stayed above recent lows after the plaintiff in the first lawsuit over the heartburn drug Zantac scheduled to go to trial agreed to drop his case.

Shares in the London-listed drugmaker were down 0.6% shortly after 0700 GMT. One trader said the news looked positive at first sight, although it could be a one-off.

Shares of GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer and Haleon have taken a hit in recent weeks on investor concerns about thousands of lawsuits claiming the drug, which U.S. regulators pulled from the market in 2020, causes cancer.

(Reporting by Lucy Raitano; editing by Danilo Masoni)