FTC Vote On BMS-Celgene Acquisition Splits Over Drug Pricing

Nov 19 2019

• By Brenda Sandburg

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Divesting Celgene's psoriasis drug Otezla will remedy anticompetitive harm from acquisition, US Federal Trade Commission votes 3-2. Dissenting Democrat commissioners want broader review of pharma mergers.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 4: Federal Trade Commission Headquarters in downtown Washington, DC on May 4, 2015.

The US Federal Trade Commission revealed a sharp divide in voting 3-2 to give the go-ahead for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s acquisition of Celgene Corp. with the divestiture of Celgene's blockbuster psoriasis drug Otezla (apremilast). The two dissenting commissioners said it was not sufficient to look solely at overlapping products and that high drug prices and other consequences of pharmaceutical mergers should be considered.

The FTC announced on 15 November that it had accepted a proposed consent order to remedy the anticompetitive effects resulting...

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