AstraZeneca reaches $200m Seroquel settlement

AstraZeneca is to pay around £198 million to settle US lawsuits against its troubled anti-psychotic drug Seroquel.

The company has reached an agreement, subject to finalising non-monetary terms, over claims Seroquel caused diabetes in a number of patients who were not adequately warned that this was a possible side effect.

The payout covers roughly two thirds of all17,500 US claimants and follows a legal mediation process.

AstraZeneca said in a statement: “We believe it was in the best interest of the company to explore resolving these cases through the mediation process. We remain committed to a strong defence effort, but will also continue to participate in good faith in court-ordered mediation.”

AstraZeneca are keeping the specific terms of the agreement Seroquel claimants close to its chest, but has previously agreed to pay around $55 million to resolve more than 5,500 cases.

This is very much a damage control exercise aimed at lumping lawsuits together to take an initial hit that will smooth out over the long term, allowing the minimum of impact to the drug and the company.

AstraZeneca said its core earnings guidance for 2010 would remain unchanged by the settlements.

It added that the only jury trial to date against Seroquel resulted in favour of the Anglo-Swiss company, and noted that more than 1,800 additional Seroquel lawsuits had been dismissed by direction of the courts.

As its second-biggest selling drug, Seroquel’s sales hit $4.9 billion in 2009 and has climbed by 10% in the first half of 2010.

Ben Adams