FTC to block Amgen's deal to acquire Horizon Therapeutics - source (updated)

Horizon Therapeutics

16/05/2023 02:35

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       May 15 (Reuters) - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
is expected to file a lawsuit as early as Tuesday to block Amgen
Inc's  AMGN.O  $27.8 billion deal to buy Horizon Therapeutics
PLC  HZNP.O , a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. 
    Last year, Amgen agreed to buy Horizon to strengthen its
rare diseases drugs portfolio and said it hopes to complete the
deal in the first half of 2023.
    Amgen said on Monday it wasn't aware of any decision made by
the agency. 
        US Senator Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken critic of
corporate consolidation, wrote to the agency earlier this year
expressing her concerns on pharmaceutical deals including the
Amgen deal, citing threat to competition in the sector. 
         The deal would give Amgen two fast-growing drugs, the
thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout treatment
Krystexxa. Amgen hopes they can act as a bulwark against
competition for its blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel.
        
  
        
  
        
  

 (Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru and Diane Bartz;
Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Akanksha.Khushi@thomsonreuters.com;))