Delaware Zantac ruling unlikely material for Sanofi, says BofA

BofA notes that the Delaware District Court judge overseeing about 75,000 Zantac cancer claims, in which Sanofi (SNY) is named in about 25,000, stated in a “Daubert” ruling on Friday that the claims can move to trial. While the ruling is only a determination of admissibility of expert evidence, it nonetheless is a negative relative to investor expectations that only some or none of the claims would progress to trial, the analyst contends. However, unlike GSK (GSK), the firm sees Sanofi’s exposure as relatively low, with settlement cost unlikely to exceed 2% of its market capitalisation in the firm’s bear case and possibly lower. BofA maintains a Buy rating on Sanofi shares.