Shares in GlaxoSmithKline, the UK-based pharmaceuticals group, nearly 8 per cent in New York on Monday after a study in one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals warned of the increased risk of heart attacks among patients taking its blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a “meta analysis” of 42 clinical trials on the medicine, accompanied by an editorial arguing that the reason for doctors to prescribe Avandia was “unclear” and that “regulatory action by the [US regulator] Food & Drug Administration is warranted”.
