Podcast: How Will Greater FTC Scrutiny Affect Biopharma M&A Activity?

Scrip’s Joseph Haas and Jessica Merrill discuss the US FTC’s oversight of the Amgen/Horizon deal and what it might portend for biopharma M&A with Leerink Partners' Dan Lepanto and ZS partner Cody Powers.

Scrip Podcast Special
This edition of the Scrip M&A podcast focuses on US FTC oversight • Source: Shutterstock

Biopharmaceutical business development professionals looked on uneasily this summer as the drama of the US Federal Trade Commission’s review of the proposed Amgen, Inc./Horizon Therapeutics plc merger led to Amgen pledging to not bundle Horizon products with its own, the FTC rejecting Amgen’s proposal and filing a lawsuit to block the merger, and then the parties agreeing to a settlement on 1 September in which Amgen signed a written commitment restricting bundling of Horizon’s top sellers – Tepezza (teprotumumab) and Krystexxa (pegloticase) – with its own products.

With the even-larger Pfizer Inc./Seagen Inc. merger still pending, the industry is wondering if the FTC/Amgen disagreement means a tougher environment going forward for biopharma M&A. The...

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