The US Federal Trade Commission is taking its fight against rebating and bundling practices that pharmaceutical companies employ in negotiations with payers to court, but not by suing to stop these tactics directly. Instead, the FTC said on 16 May that it is filing a lawsuit to block Amgen, Inc.’s $28bn purchase of Horizon Therapeutics plc to prevent the acquirer from obtaining greater power to block competition through drug price rebates it promises to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
FTC’s Challenge Of Amgen/Horizon Merger Seeks To Fight Pharma Rebating Practices
Lawsuit Does Not Cite Overlap In Companies’ Portfolios
The US Federal Trade Commission is taking a stand against rebating and bundling practices pharma companies use in negotiations with payers as it seeks to block Amgen’s $28bn acquisition of Horizon.

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