LONDON, July 16 (UPI) -- British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline said it would set aside $2.3 billion to cover legal costs involving two of its controversial drugs.
Investors responded positively to the news, making the assumption the $2.3 billion would be the ceiling on the firm's liabilities involving Paxil and Avandia, The New York Times reported Friday.
Earlier predictions had put the cost of the legal difficulties at $6 billion.
On Wednesday, a Food and Drug Administration panel said Avandia, used to treat diabetes, should be restricted in its use or taken off the market, due to increased risk of heart attacks. But the news was evidence that investors like certainty more than doubt and GlaxoSmithKline stocks rose 2.3 percent Thursday.
The company said the $2.3 billion "includes provisions for settled cases and an estimate for those cases which we have received and are still outstanding."
The funds set aside also covers legal issues involving Paxil, an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug that has been tangled up in an anti-trust case involving generic drug maker Apotex.
GlaxoSmithKline also said Thursday it made an $8.4 billion profit in 2009.
