US FTC sues to block Amgen's $27.8 bln deal for Horizon Therapeutics (updated)

Horizon Therapeutics

16/05/2023 16:22

(Adds FTC reason for opposition, vote in paragraph 2 and 5)
       WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade
Commission said on Tuesday it would sue to stop Amgen Inc's
 AMGN.O  $27.8 billion deal to buy Horizon Therapeutics Plc
 HZNP.O .
    The agency said it was opposing the deal because it would
give Amgen "monopoly positions" for medicines used to treat
thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout.
    The deal, which was announced in December 2022, would give
Amgen two fast-growing drugs, the thyroid eye disease treatment
Tepezza and gout treatment Krystexxa. Amgen hopes the revenue
from those medicines can act as a bulwark against competition
that has eroded sales of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis
drug Enbrel. 
    Other key drugs in Amgen's product portfolio, such as
psoriasis therapy Otezla, face the loss of patent protections
over the next few years.
    The FTC, which currently has three Democratic commissioners,
voted 3-0 to approve the challenge.
    It is unusual for the agency to sue to stop a pharmaceutical
deal. In recent years, the agency has typically identified
therapeutic overlaps in the companies involved and required one
of the medicines to be divested.
    

 (Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Tim Ahmann and Bill
Berkrot)
 ((Rami.Ayyub@thomsonreuters.com;))