FTC Sues to Block Amgen’s $27.8 Billion Acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics
In a brief, the Federal Trade Commission cited concerns about the acquisition resulting in an increased monopoly on Amgen’s newly acquired thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout treatments.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on May 16, 2023 that the agency is filing suit against Amgen in conjunction with Amgen’s recent $27.8 billion bid to acquire Horizon Therapeutics. In an agency press release, FTC cited concerns that the acquisition would enable Amgen to use rebates on its existing blockbuster drugs to pressure insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers into favoring Horizon’s two-monopoly biologics products. The biologics products in question are Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw), a treatment for thyroid eye disease, and Krystexxa (pegloticase), a treatment for chronic refractory gout.
“Rampant consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has given powerful companies a pass to exorbitantly hike prescription drug prices, deny patients access to more affordable generics, and hamstring innovation in life-saving markets,” said Holly Vedova, Bureau of Competition director , FTC, in the release. “Today’s action—the FTC’s first challenge to a pharmaceutical merger in recent memory—sends a clear signal to the market: the FTC won't hesitate to challenge mergers that enable pharmaceutical conglomerates to entrench their monopolies at the expense of consumers and fair competition.”
In response to the suit, Amgen released a public statement denying its intentions to bundle coverages.
“The medicines offered by Amgen and Horizon generally treat different diseases and patient populations, and there are no overlaps of competitive concern,” reads the statement. “The FTC's claim that Amgen might ‘bundle’ these medicines (offer a multi-product discount) at some point in the future is entirely speculative and does not reflect the real-world competitive dynamics behind providing rare-disease medicines to patients.”
Amgen’s statement also questioned whether any acquisition could be denied under a “bundling theory,” claiming that there was no such precedent.The company also announced its intent to work with the courts and complete the acquisition by mid-December 2023.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, Amgen
Trump Directs FDA, EPA to Reduce Regulatory Barriers to Domestic Pharma Manufacturing
May 7th 2025The White House is instructing FDA to increase fees for and inspections of foreign drug manufacturing plants and reduce the time required to approve such sites that will be newly constructed in the US.
New Cancer Research and Treatment Center in Development in London
May 1st 2025Aviva Capital Partners and developer Socius are investing £1 billion in a 12-acre site to be located at the London Cancer Hub next to The Institute of Cancer Research, London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust’s Sutton site.
Regeneron Treatment for Multiple Myeloma Gets Conditional Marketing Approval from EC
April 29th 2025The indication is specific to patients who have received at least three prior therapies, including a proteasome inhibitor, immunomodulatory agent, and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy.
