Pfizer Inc. resolved all but three of 35,000 claims over its withdrawn diabetes drug Rezulin for a total of about $750 million, 21 percent less than what it set aside for the cases, people familiar with the litigation said.

Pfizer, which is acquiring rival Wyeth for almost $64 billion, paid about $500 million to settle Rezulin cases consolidated in federal court in New York, according to court filings. The company also paid as much as $250 million to resolve state-court suits, two people familiar with the cases said. In 2004, it set aside $955 million to end Rezulin cases.

1.9 Million Diabetics

Rezulin, a drug taken by about 1.9 million diabetics to help regulate insulin levels, was pulled from the U.S. market in 2000 after it was linked to at least 63 deaths from liver failure. Pfizer officials said in 2004 the company faced about 35,000 personal-injury claims over the drug. Pfizer acquired the drug when it bought Warner-Lambert Co. in May 2000 for about $116 billion.

About 15,000 of those claims were consolidated before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York. The company has resolved all but three through dismissals or settlements, according to transcript of a Jan. 16 hearing in New York.

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