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From Times Online
May 30, 2007

Glaxo comment: More pain

GlaxoSmithKline shares fell by £1.6bn after Merrill Lynch issued a sell notice. Read the Times Online comment here

Robert Lindsay

Problems over GlaxoSmithKline’s second-best-selling drug, Avandia, have cut £13 billion from the value of Europe’s largest drugs company in two weeks, despite protestations that the diabetes treatment is safe.

Glaxo claims the scientific report that suggested increased risk of heart attack and death did not have access to detailed studies and did not have enough data.

Glaxo says that it shared proper data showing Avandia’s safety with the regulators, but it has not shared it with the wider scientific community or the public (read shareholders) who are now highly critical and voting with their feet.

It is probable that regulators will not force a withdrawal but simply insist on a sterner warning on the packet. While Glaxo’s fear of losing its edge may explain the secrecy, much less pain would have been caused had it shared findings more widely.

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