Quoted from http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-28/astrazeneca-resolves-most-seroquel-suits-for-647-million.html
AstraZeneca Resolves Most Seroquel Suits for $647 Million
July 28, 2011, 4:46 AM EDTBy Jef Feeley
July 28 (Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc has settled almost all lawsuits that claimed its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes in some users for a total of $647 million.
AstraZeneca, the U.K.’s second-biggest drugmaker, has set aside the $647 million to resolve 28,461 suits alleging it knew Seroquel could cause diabetes in some users, the company said in its second-quarter earnings report. The settlements provide an average payout of more than $20,000 per case.
AstraZeneca’s ability to settle the Seroquel liability for less than $1 billion “may well be a positive surprise for investors,” Les Funtleyder, a health strategist and portfolio manager at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “That’s a real bargain when you look at what competitors such as Lilly have paid in settlements over a similar drug.”
Eli Lilly & Co, maker of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, has paid at least $1.2 billion to resolve lawsuits alleging the drug caused diabetes in some users. That’s on top of $1.42 billion in fines the drugmaker paid the U.S. government to resolve claims that it illegally marketed Zyprexa.
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