Glaxo to pay about $60m in Avandia settlements

GlaxoSmithKline Plc agreed to pay about $60m in the first settlements of lawsuits alleging the company’s Avandia diabetes drug causes heart attacks and strokes in some users, people familiar with the accords said. Glaxo, the UK’s biggest drugmaker, agreed to resolve more than 700 Avandia suits filed by three attorneys, including Houston-based plaintiffs’ lawyer Mark Lanier and Philadelphia- based litigator Sol Weiss, the people said. The settlements come as Glaxo is set to face its first Avandia trial in state court in Philadelphia in July. The company faces about 4,000 lawsuits that have been filed so far over the drug. “Settlement of litigation tends to be seen positively by the market because it’s minimizing risk,” Michael Leacock, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, said yesterday in a phone interview. “This all seems quite manageable.” Glaxo officials yesterday declined to comment on the settlements. They noted the company continues to prepare for trials over Avandia scheduled for this year. “GlaxoSmithKline stands by Avandia and is fully prepared to defend any litigation,” Bernadette King, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.