MEDICINE

Settlement Reached Over Zantac: British-based Glaxo Wellcome Inc. announced that it has reached an out-of-court settlement with a Canadian company, Genpharm Inc., in a patent infringement lawsuit over the world’s best-selling prescription drug. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Monday in Baltimore in a trial over the validity of two Glaxo Wellcome patents for the ulcer medication Zantac. As part of the settlement, Genpharm acknowledged the validity of two patent forms of Zantac, which had sales of more than $1 billion during the most recent six-month accounting period for Glaxo, with U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, N.C. In exchange, Glaxo Wellcome will pay an undisclosed amount over a three-year period.