FDA Warns Zeneca About Ads’ Drug Claims

Zeneca Pharmaceuticals made misleading claims about the safety or effectiveness of several of its drugs, including Nolvadex for breast cancer and Zestril for hypertension, the Food and Drug Administration said. In a warning letter sent to the company on Nov. 24 and released by the agency’s Freedom of Information Office, the FDA said Zeneca must stop misleading advertising for the products, review promotional materials for everything it sells, and devise a way to get correct information to everyone who saw misleading messages. The agency detailed problems with advertisements, leaflets and other promotional material for Nolvadex, Zestril, the hypertension drug Sular, Zomig for migraines and Casodex for prostate cancer. Zeneca’s American depositary receipts fell 19 cents to close at $41.81 on the New York Stock Exchange. Zeneca, a unit of London-based Zeneca Group, the No. 2 cancer drug maker, has until Dec. 10 to respond. “We’re reviewing the letter now and we take these things very seriously,” a company spokesman said.