FTC allows Amgen Horizon Therapeutics deal to maneuver forward

The Federal Trade Commission on Friday said it has reached a deal with drug giant Amgen to permit the corporate’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics to maneuver forward. 

The 2 firms now expect to shut the acquisition – Amgen’s largest ever – early within the fourth quarter of this yr, a spokesperson for Amgen said.

The agreement resolves a lawsuit the FTC filed in May searching for to dam the acquisition over concerns it will allow Amgen to leverage its drug portfolio to stifle competition within the pharmaceutical industry. The agency this week temporarily suspended that suit, which allowed it to think about whether to settle the case. 

However the agreement announced Friday still imposes restrictions on Amgen to handle key concerns the FTC raised in its suit.

The deal specifically prohibits Amgen from “bundling” two of Horizon’s blockbuster drugs: thyroid eye disease therapy Tepezza and Krystexxa, a gout medicine.

That practice involves offering rebates or discounts on its existing products to pressure insurers and pharmacy profit managers into favoring the Horizon products.

Amgen may even should get approval from the FTC to accumulate any products that treat the identical diseases as Tepezza and Krystexxa do. Amgen is required to hunt those signoffs from the agency through 2032.

All other requirements can be effective for 15 years after the agreement is finalized, in response to the FTC.

As a part of the deal, attorneys general for California, Illinois, Minnesota, Recent York, Washington and Wisconsin have also agreed to dismiss their federal suits searching for to dam the merger.

Shares of Horizon rose nearly 3% in early morning trading Friday. Amgen’s stock edged up barely.

The spokesperson for Amgen said the corporate has no “reason, ability, or intention” to bundle Horizon’s two fast-growing medications. The brand new agreement “may have no impact on Amgen’s business,” the spokesperson added.

A Horizon spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amgen first moved to purchase Horizon in December 2022 in an effort to achieve access to the latter’s rare disease assets, but buyout was quick to draw regulatory and political scrutiny for its potential antitrust issues.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan asked the regulator to “heavily scrutinize” the acquisition and the then-pending merger of Indivior and Opiant. She warned the deals may lead to higher prices. The Indivior-Opiant deal later closed.

The FTC eventually heeded Warren’s warnings and filed its lawsuit over the Amgen-Horizon deal.

In a separate statement Friday, Khan said the agency will “proceed to challenge illegal practices that raise drug prices, inhibit access, stifle innovation, or otherwise hurt patients.”

The FTC is currently reviewing Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of cancer drug developer Seagen, one in every of the most important deals of this yr. The agency began an in-depth investigation into the transaction in July.

The FTC, under Khan, has challenged various high-profile mergers. However the agency has struggled in court this yr, losing cases to dam a Meta deal and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.