Amgen clear to acquire Horizon after agreement with Federal Trade Commission
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Amgen has reached a deal with the Federal Trade Commission that will enable the pharmaceutical company to complete its $28 billion acquisition of Horizon, according to statements from both parties.
The agreement follows a lawsuit from the FTC, filed in May, alleging that the merger would reduce competition for therapies intended to treat gout and thyroid eye disease.
Under the new settlement, Amgen will be prohibited from bundling any of its products with teprotumumab-trbw (Tepezza) and pegloticase (Kyrtexxa), Horizon’s therapies that treat thyroid eye disease and gout, respectively. In addition, Amgen “may not condition any product rebate or contract terms related to an Amgen product on the sale or positioning either one of these drugs,” according to the FTC statement. Amgen is additionally prohibited from using product rebates to exclude or disadvantage any product that would compete with the aforementioned therapies.
“Consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has given companies the power and incentive to engage in exclusionary rebating practices, which can lead to sky-rocketing prices on essential medications,” Henry Liu, director of the bureau of competition at the FTC, said in the release. “Today’s proposed resolution sends a clear signal that the FTC and its state partners will scrutinize pharmaceutical mergers that enable such practices, and defend patients and competition in this vital marketplace.”
Other stipulations of the agreement require Amgen to seek approval before acquiring any additional therapies that treat thyroid eye disease or gout. This restriction applies to therapies that have completed clinical trials and extends through 2032. In addition, the company must make any contracts relating to the formulary coverage, placement or positioning of Krystexxa or Tepezza available for review prior to entering into the agreement. In addition, all employees involved with contracting or negotiating these drugs must affirm, annually, that they understand the restrictions placed by the agreement.
In its own statement, Amgen said the agreement “clears the path” for the final steps needed to close its acquisition of Horizon, which it initially announced in December 2022 for a price of approximately $27.8 billion. The company added that it plans to jointly file, alongside Horizon, requests to dismiss the current preliminary injunction motion and dissolve the temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Amgen has consistently stated to the FTC, the courts and the public that it has no reason, ability or intention to bundle Horizon's Tepezza or Krystexxa with any of its products,” Amgen said in its release. “This narrow assurance, formalized in the consent order with the FTC, will have no impact on Amgen's business.”
Amgen, which paid $4 billion in cash for drugmaker ChemoCentryx Inc. in August 2022, anticipates the Horizon acquisition to be finalized early in the fourth quarter of 2023.
References:
Biopharmaceutical giant Amgen to settle FTC and state challenges to its Horizon Therapeutics acquisition. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/09/biopharmaceutical-giant-amgen-settle-ftc-state-challenges-its-horizon-therapeutics-acquisition. Sept. 1, 2023. Accessed Sept. 1, 2023.
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