The FTC filed a lawsuit to block Amgen from buying Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8B|Netherlands Embassy|CC BY 2.0
In a rare antitrust action, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit to block Amgen’s proposed $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, the agency announced Tuesday.
It marks the first time in more than 10 years that the FTC has gone to court to stop a pharma merger. It is also the first time the agency has focused on companies’ past behaviors around drug pricing.
The FTC alleges
- Amgen is trying to take advantage of the monopoly positions of Horizon meds for thyroid eye disease and chronic gout.
- Amgen gets $24.8 billion in annual sales from a product portfolio of 27 drugs. The merger could give the company power to pressure insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to favor Horizon’s thyroid eye drug Tepezza and gout therapy medicine Krystexxa. No other pharma company is currently providing treatment for the two ailments.
- Given the acceptance of Amgen’s existing drugs and the rebates it can offer, it may be “difficult for smaller rivals” to compete against Tepezza and Krystexxa.
The FTC further said, “Amgen has a history of leveraging its broad portfolio of blockbuster drugs to gain advantages over potential rivals.”
The Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren had sent a letter to FTC to scrutinize the acquisition.