In the latest indication that Pfizer hopes to resolve burgeoning litigation over its Prempro hormone replacement therapy, the drugmaker has now set aside a total of $772 million to cover an estimated 8,000 cases in federal and state courts around the country, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Specifically, Pfizer recently placed $300 million in reserves on top of $172 million in the first quarter of the year and another $300 million in previous quarters (see page 57 of the filing). The drugmaker disclosed that about one-third of all Prempro lawsuits have been resolved, suggesting another 3,000 or more remain in various dockets.

Of course, the reserves could go still higher; Pfizer notes the set asides cover “the minimum expected costs to resolve all of the other outstanding hormone-replacement therapy actions.” A big clump of lawsuits - roughly 2,200 - were recently settled for a reported $330 million (see this).

For those who may not recall, the litigation stems from charges that Prempro and simliar meds caused thousands of women to develop breast cancer. The drugs were widely used, though, until a 2002 study by the Women’s Health Initiative, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, highlighted a link.

“We are pleased to see Pfizer finally accept responsibility for the injuries this drug caused to women and hope the company will compensate each woman fairly and reasonably,” Zoe Littlepage, a lawyer who serves as lead counsel for Prempro patients whose lawsuits are being heard in Arkansas, tells Bloomberg News.

For those keeping score, Pfizer has lost eight of 15 Prempro cases that were decided by juries since trials began five years ago. However, Pfizer has succeeded in having some verdicts tossed after a trial or had awards reduced. Some verdicts, meanwhile, were settled and some are on appeal. Pfizer also won dismissals of more than 3,000 cases before these went to trial.

think pink pic thx to sca on flickr