Dettol owner Reckitt Benckiser’s shares soared by over 10% on Friday (1 November) after the company was cleared of liability in a pre-term formula trial.

Shares in the US-based pharmaceutical company jumped 10.5% at £51.70 after the markets opened on Friday – the highest level since March, Reuters reported.

Last week, a jury found that Reckitt’s unit Mead Johnson, alongside US-based Abbott Labs, were not responsible for a young boy’s debilitating intestinal disease, amid a lawsuit that accused the two companies of failing to alert of the risks of premature baby formulas.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

Mead Johnson said the ruling “demonstrates that the claims in this case were not supported by the science or experts in the medical community”.

In a statement, Abbott said: “The decision reinforces what we, the medical community and regulatory bodies have said: that preterm infant nutrition products are safe.”

It comes as Reckitt’s sales took a hit in the third quarter as its nutrition business suffered supply shortages.

The FMCG giant’s net sales dipped 0.5% on a like-for-like basis, however for the year to 30 September, sales were up 0.4%.