Shares in Northern Ireland-based drugs firm Galen, which makes hormone replacement therapies, fell sharply this morning after a medical report linked HRT and breast cancer.
The report in the highly respected Lancetmedical journal suggested that hormone replacement therapies place women at "substantially" increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Galen produces intra-vaginal rings impregnated with HRT. The study carried out by cancer researchers at Oxford University estimates HRT, taken by women to relieve the unpleasant symptoms of menopause, may have been responsible for an extra 20,000 cases of breast cancer in Britain in the last decade.
After falling by as much as 7 per cent in early trade Galen shares recovered some ground but are still down over 5 per cent at €8.13 on the Dublin stock exchange.
