I’d be willing to bet that the first lawsuits will be filed as early as today or tomorrow.
Back story: one meta-analysis indicates that treatment with GSK’s diabetes drug Avandia is associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack. Even though this result is disputed by other studies and analyses, it won’t matter; the sharks will be circling, teeth bared, sensing yet another “deep pockets” source of potential tort revenue.
Two questions do come to mind, however:
1. Is it possible that there is a class effect at work here? If so, a company like Takeda, which also has a -glitazone (Actos), could experience fallout.
2. Is there a smoking gun – that is, did GSK have access to information that was buried? For their sake, and the sake of the industry, I hope not.
Finally, the new uncertainty now surrounding this widely-used treatment will certainly drive more interest in Januvia, the DPP-4 inhibitor recently launched by Merck to treat diabetes.
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