STAT+: Pharmalittle: FTC suspends challenge to Amgen deal for Horizon; AstraZeneca is latest to challenge Medicare drug negotiations
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission suspended its challenge to Amgen's $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission suspended its challenge to Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, giving the agency time to weigh a settlement that would allow the deal to close with conditions, The Wall Street Journal reports. In a court filing, the agency said it would pause a challenge it filed in its internal court that alleged the deal violates antitrust law. FTC lawyers have argued Amgen could abuse its power to entrench the monopolies of Horizon’s top-selling therapies for thyroid eye disease and gout. The pause, effective until Sept. 18, allows the FTC’s three commissioners to decide whether the agency should settle the case.
AstraZeneca became the sixth drugmaker to pile on a legal challenge to the Biden administration and its drug-pricing reform law, STAT writes. The Medicare drug-price negotiation program created in the Inflation Reduction Act is set to kick off in the next week, as officials will release the names of the first 10 medicines that will be selected for the program. Medicines are eligible for selection if they are one of the highest-spend drugs for Medicare, and they have no generic competition. AstraZeneca makes drugs that could be selected for the list, and asked a Delaware district court judge to rule that Medicare acted illegally and that the law is unconstitutional.
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