The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Amgen's $27.8B acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics due to concerns about its impact on competition in the pharmaceutical industry. This reflects the FTC's stricter stance on mergers under Chair Lina Khan. - The complaint might represent a stronger stance against the pharmaceutical industry, which has traditionally avoided significant FTC action.
- Following the announcement, Amgen's stock fell by more than 2%, and Horizon Therapeutics' stock fell by more than 15%.
- According to the FTC, the merger would allow Amgen to establish monopolies in Horizon's eye and gout medications, possibly limiting competition.
- The Pharma companies counter the FTC's arguments by claiming that they do not intend to bundle Horizon's goods and that the bundling theory has not been proven in previous acquisition cases.
- Recent court decisions in favor of the mergers, such as Illumina's acquisition of Grail, have made it difficult for the FTC to stop agreements in the pharmaceutical sector.
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