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

Horizon Therapeutics

26/08/2023 16:40

(Adds details from filing in paragraph 2 and background in
paragraph 3-6)
       Aug 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) has suspended its challenge of Amgen's  AMGN.O  $27.8
billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics  HZNP.O , allowing the
FTC to consider whether the agency should settle the case, a
filing late on Friday showed. 
        The pause is effective until Sept. 18.
  
        The FTC filed a lawsuit on May 16 aimed at stopping the
transaction in a rare move to block a large pharmaceutical deal.
        The FTC had said it opposed the deal because of concern
that Amgen would leverage its big selling drugs to pressure
insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to give
favorable terms for Horizon's two key products - the
fast-growing thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout drug
Krystexxa.
       The Thousand Oaks, California-based company announced
plans to buy Horizon in December last year, saying that its rare
disease drugs would offer it some protection from the drug
pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which are
aimed at drugs most widely used by the government's Medicare
health plan.
        Amgen and Horizon Therapeutics did not immediately
respond to a Reuters' request for comment. 
  

 (Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely
and Diane Craft)
 ((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com;))