GSK shares seen opening higher after settlement of 80,000 Zantac lawsuits

(Reuters) – Shares of GSK are seen rising 5% according to pre-market indications on Thursday after the British drugmaker agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle lawsuits that claimed its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.

The agreement, announced on Wednesday, resolved 80,000 or 93% of the pending cases against the company in the U.S. and was far lower than some analyst estimates, including JP Morgan’s projection of $3.5 billion.