On May 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block Amgen Inc.’s purchase of Horizon Therapeutics plc, showing that the agency aims to make good on its promise to police mergers in the pharmaceutical sector more aggressively than it has in the past. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the transaction would allow Amgen to leverage its portfolio of blockbuster drugs in negotiations with insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) to insulate Horizon products from competition. This “portfolio-effects” theory of harm marks a significant departure from the FTC’s traditional approach of evaluating whether a pharmaceutical merger reduces competition between competing products and underscores the Commission’s willingness to pursue novel theories of harm.
FTC v. Amgen/Horizon: FTC’s Pursuit of a Novel Theory Signals Greater Scrutiny on the Horizon for Pharmaceutical Mergers
Jun 01, 2023
Posted by Freshfields