ShareThisGlaxoSmithKline will spend a record amount of money on legal fees associated with lawsuits against its controversial diabetes drug, Avandia, and other issues.
The British company, whose North American headquarters is in Research Triangle Park, said it expects to have $2.36 billion in legal payments and fees in the second quarter.
In addition to settling Avandia lawsuits, the company also has reached a settlement over antitrust allegations involving the anti-depressant Paxil, and allegations of quality deficiencies at a drug manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico.
On Wednesday, an advisory panel vindicated GSK by recommending to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the company be allowed to continue selling Avandia, once the world's best-selling diabetes treatment. But the panel said the drug increases risk of heart attack, and should come with tougher restrictions and warnings.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The News and Observer of Raleigh, N.C.
