ALARM after a US expert raised safety fears about a range of drugs saw (pounds) 6.3bn wiped off the value of pharmaceutical giants yesterday.
Dr David Graham, of the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), listed five drugs on the market which he believed presented potentially serious risks, including a widely-used asthma treatment.
Dr Graham, one of the agency's top safety officials, said that Serevent, sold by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, was shown with 90% certainty in a long-term trial in England, to cause deaths among asthma sufferers. He also said a closer review of anti-cholesterol drug Crestor was needed amid fears that it causes acute kidney failure.
Nearly (pounds) 4bn was wiped off the value of AstraZeneca PLC, which sells Crestor, following Dr Graham's comments to the Senate finance committee.
AstraZeneca shares fell 9.3% while GlaxoSmithKline shares dipped by 3.78%.
Both firms rejected claims that their drugs were unsafe.
The other medications mentioned by Dr Graham were Abbott Laboratories' Meridia, a weight-loss drug, Accutane from Roche, for acne, and Pfizer's painkiller Bextra.
The firms also defended the safety of these treatments.
Professor Martyn Partridge, chief medical adviser to Asthma UK, said of Serevent: There is no current evidence to suggest that this medication is unsafe.''
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