The Federal Trade Commission has agreed to end its legal challenge of the $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics by drugmaker Amgen, according to a Sept. 1 article in the Wall Street Journal.
In its agreement with the FTC, Amgen pledged not to bundle its own products with certain Horizon medications, “and swore off conditional rebates or other tactics that could entrench the monopoly position of Horizon’s products,” according to the article. This is “a rare instance of the FTC under Chair Lina Khan throwing in the towel on litigation.”
Partner Carl Hittinger told the Wall Street Journal that this deal allows the FTC to say it obtained conditions that it might not have been able to get in a trial. The FTC has suffered a number of high-profile court losses recently, and is “is a little gun-shy,” Hittinger said. “This is an example of better to make a deal than litigate and lose.”
The article is titled “Amgen’s $27.8 Billion Deal for Horizon Therapeutics Clears Key Hurdle” (subscription required).