Pharmaceutical shares are edging lower, and none more so than GlaxoSmithKline after an unfavourable ruling in Germany regarding its Avandia diabetes treatment.
The drugs sector is suffering from investors moving away - probably temporarily - from more defensive stocks. But Glaxo has also been hit by news that Germany's Federal Joint Committee recommended health insurers should stop paying for Avandia, citing concerns including worries about heart risk. Sales of Avandia have been falling in recent years, but these latest comments do little to help improve sentiment towards the drug.
Glaxo's shares have fallen 20p to £11.95, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 at the moment. But the company said the committee's action was "not justified from a medical nor legal point of view."
Meanwhile AstraZeneca is down 24p to £30.54 while tobacco stocks - ironically with health companies another defensive sector - are also lower. Imperial Tobacco is 19 lower at £19.35 while British American Tobacco is off 23p at £21.75.
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