GlaxoSmithKline's shares rose 21.5 pence, or 1.8 percent, to £12.03 a share in London. "The charge we have announced today reflects the company's ongoing efforts to resolve certain longstanding legal cases," the general counsel, Dan Troy, said in a statement. "This represents a substantial proportion of G.S.K.'s outstanding litigation. This progress is helping us to reduce financial uncertainty and risk for shareholders." In the hearing Wednesday, GlaxoSmithKline had argued that Avandia was a safe, and needed, option in treating diabetes. But panel members voiced skepticism about the company's trustworthiness after questions were raised about its clinical trials. Internal documents showed that the company for years kept crucial safety information about Avandia from the public. Sales of Avandia, once the biggest-selling diabetes medicine in the world, abruptly declined in 2007 after a study by Dr. Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist, found that it increased the risk of heart attacks.