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Antitrust Agencies Sue Giant Pharmaceutical Merger In Bid To Protect Consumers
The National Law Review Reports: according to the national law review, antitrust agencies are targetting Pharmaceutical mergers. The bio Pharmaceutical giant Amgen Inc (and Horizon Therapeutics PLC) is facing a lawsuit by the federal trade Commission. The FTC has blocked Amgen’s 27.8 billion dollar acquisition plan to get Horizon Therapeutics under its wing.
This lawsuit is one of many by the Biden administration. These anti-trust lawsuits are being filed to battle the high prices of prescription drugs in the United States. President Joseph Biden has, on numerous occasions, commented on the accessive prices of prescription drugs in America.
Earlier in 2021, an executive order on promoting competition was delivered where the president expressed these concerns. This Pharmaceutical merger lawsuit launched by the federal trade commission is the first of this decade.
Director Holly Vedova of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition has stated that this lawsuit is a “clear signal to the market.” The Federal Trade Commission will never stop challenging these mergers that enable pharmaceutical giants to establish monopolies at the expense of fair competition and consumer welfare.
The pharmaceutical giant Amgen operates in different markets than Horizon. However, the Federal Trade Commission feels that this merger could substantially affect competition in some markets.
The FTC believes this acquisition would offer discounts to certain Insurance Corporations and Pharmacy benefit managers. This will get them preferential treatment from these parties. This is known as cross-market bundling.
The Federal body has expressed widespread concerns that if Amgen engages with Horizon products in cross-market bundling, the only FDA-approved medication for thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout, it would allow the current monopolies on these products to get even bigger. This would further inhibit the entry of competitive products.
Amgen and Horizon, as a response to this lawsuit, have paused their transaction till later this year. They have also stated that an antitrust agency’s attempt to block corporate mergers on the grounds of cross-market bundling is a new occurrence to them.
These efforts follow the pharmaceutical merger analysis workshop that was held in early 2022. It was a combined effort of the Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force by the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice of the US, state Attorneys General of the US, and the Canadian, European, and British competition bureaus.
The antitrust agencies’ skepticism of remedial measures and transactions between large pharmaceutical companies was the topic of discussion. The Assistant Attorney General of the US Justice Department stressed the importance of giving patients access to medicine at affordable prices.
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