FTC’s Take On Two Pharma Mergers Shows Deals Can Clear Higher Hurdle

 
• By Brenda Sandburg
  
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Pfizer’s acquisition of Arena without FTC intervention and Hikma’s acquisition of Custopharm with one product divestiture shows the commission is bound by anticompetitive facts of a deal. A more controversial merger may not get through, former FTC attorney says.

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Pharma mergers are clearing higher FTC hurdles • Source: Alamy

The US Federal Trade Commission has indicated that biopharma mergers would have a tougher time clearing the agency. But it’s decision not to intervene in Pfizer Inc.’s $6.7bn acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its requirement for a single pipeline product divestiture as a condition of Hikma Pharmaceuticals plc’s acquisition of Custopharm, Inc. show that such deals can go through despite the agency’s closer scrutiny and consideration of broader anticompetitive factors.

Some analysts had questioned if Pfizer’s deal with Arena would be accepted by the FTC given Pfizer’s substantial presence in...

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