Amgen agrees not to seek quick close to Horizon acquisition (updated)

Horizon Therapeutics

18/05/2023 14:55

(Adds details throughout)
       WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - Amgen Inc  AMGN.O  has
agreed not to quickly close on its $27.8 billion acquisition of
Horizon Therapeutics  HZNP.O  after the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) filed suit to block the deal.
     A U.S. district court judge issued a temporary restraining
order late on Wednesday after the two companies and the FTC
reached an agreement that both sides said in a joint filing
would permit a full briefing and "less-compressed consideration"
by the court of the FTC request.
    Absent an agreement, Amgen could have sought to close the
deal as early as Monday.
    Under the order, Amgen and Horizon will not close their
transaction until the earlier of Sept. 15, or the second
business day after the court rules on the FTC's request for a
preliminary injunction.
    California-based Amgen, which had earlier hoped to close the
deal in the first half of this year, had said on Tuesday it
would work with the court in a bid to complete the transaction
by mid-December.
        In its lawsuit the FTC said it believed Amgen could
leverage its big selling drugs to pressure insurance companies
and pharmacy benefit managers to favor Horizon's two key
products - the fast-growing thyroid eye disease treatment
Tepezza and gout drug Krystexxa - over potential competitors. 
    Amgen said it had made an offer to the FTC in the hope of
resolving the issue. "We committed that we would not bundle the
Horizon products raised as issues," Amgen said in a statement.
    Reuters reported on Thursday that the FTC faces an uphill
battle in its fight against the deal with an untested argument,
three antitrust experts said.

 (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Leroy Leo in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
 ((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7;))