Shares in the London-listed drugmaker were down 0.6% shortly after 0700 GMT. One trader said the news looked positive at first sight, although it could be a one-off.

Shares of GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer and Haleon have taken a hit in recent weeks on investor concerns about thousands of lawsuits claiming the drug, which U.S. regulators pulled from the market in 2020, causes cancer.

(Reporting by Lucy Raitano; editing by Danilo Masoni)