May 16 (UPI) — The Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it will try to block an effort by biopharmaceutical leader Amgen Inc. from purchasing Horizon Therapeutics for $28.3 billion, charging the move could force insurance companies to favor their products.
The FTC said the coupling of Amgen and Horizon could have allowed Amgen to leverage its portfolio of top-selling drugs to entrench a monopoly position in treatments for thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout.
The watchdog agency said Amgen could force insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, into favoring Horizon’s two monopoly products. It said Tepezza is used to treat thyroid eye disease, while Krystexxa is used to treat chronic refractory gout. The agency said neither of the treatments has competition in the pharmaceutical marketplace.
“Rampant consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has given powerful companies a pass to exorbitantly hike prescription drug prices, deny patients access to more affordable generics, and hamstring innovation in life-saving markets,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said in a statement.
“Today’s action — the FTC’s first challenge to a pharmaceutical merger in recent memory — sends a clear signal to the market: The FTC won’t hesitate to challenge mergers that enable pharmaceutical conglomerates to entrench their monopolies at the expense of consumers and fair competition.”
In December Amgen and Horizon described the merger as a win for consumers, with Amgen CEO Robert A. Bradway saying it will allow the companies to reach “many more patients” with “first-in-class medicines.”
“Amgen is disappointed by the FTC’s decision and remains committed to completing this acquisition, which will bring significant benefits to patients suffering from very serious rare diseases in the U.S. and around the world,” Amgen said in a statement in response.
“We have been working cooperatively over the past several months to address the questions raised by the FTC’s investigative staff and believe we have overwhelmingly demonstrated that this combination poses no legitimate competitive issues.”
The FTC said, though, that Amgen has strong incentives post-acquisition to raise Tepezza and Krystexxa rivals’ barriers to entry or dissuade them from competing as aggressively if and when they gain FDA approval.