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The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) today released a new guidance to pharmaceutical companies using Disclosure UK which it said will boost transparency in the relationships between healthcare professionals, other relevant decision-makers and the industry. The guidance encourages companies to use 'Legitimate Interests' as their lawful basis for processing individual's data, in order to increase the number of named healthcare professionals and other individuals on Disclosure UK, the database showing the payments and benefits in kind made by the pharmaceutical industry to doctors,nurses and other health professionals and organizations. "I'm pleased the ABPI is launching this new guidance which will boost patient safety and public confidence in our healthcare professionals," Patient Safety and Primary Care Minister Maria Caulfield commented.

Shares in GSK, Sanofi and Haleon fell sharply on Thursday (August 11) amid growing investor concerns about US litigation focused on a heartburn drug that contained a probable carcinogen, while Johnson and Johnson has decided to end sales of talcum powder after cancer claims. GSK shares were down 6.8 per cent, Sanofi's were down 6.9 per cent and Haleon's down per cent. GSK and Sanofi at various points sold the drug - originally branded as Zantac - which US regulators ordered off the market in 2020. Haleon, spun out as an independent listed company last month, comprises consumer health assets once partly owned by GSK. The prospect of impending litigation is not new. Among other disclosures, recently-listed Haleon had highlighted the risk of such lawsuits in its prospectus. The topic has arrived in investor consciousness in recent days it seems, but has been rumbling on in the background for a few years, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note.

Shares in GSK, Sanofi, Haleon and Pfizer began to recover on Friday (Aug 12) after the companies said that nothing material had changed regarding US litigation focused on heartburn drug Zantac. The companies' share prices had fallen sharply last week on investor concern about the litigation over potential cancer-causing impurities that prompted the drug's withdrawal from markets in 2019 and 2020. More than 2,000 Zantac-related legal cases have been filed in the United States, analysts say, with the first trial beginning this month. The prospect of impending Zantac litigation is not new. Among other disclosures, recently listed Haleon had highlighted the risk of such lawsuits in its prospectus. GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer and Haleon have lost a combined $39 billion from their market value over the past week in the absence of any other particular catalyst, according to Barclays analysts.