The European Commission is carrying out unannounced inspections at the premises of an unnamed medtech company.
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The Federal Trade Commission and the company had been in settlement discussions, but those talks have ended as the agency’s antitrust lawsuit seeks to block the Horizon Therapeutics sale.
The European Commission said the size of the fine, amounting to 10% of Illumina’s global revenue and the maximum allowed under EU merger rules for such infringements, underscored the seriousness of the offense and aimed to deter such conduct.
San Diego-based Illumina is arguing that the FTC “violated due process by depriving Illumina and Grail of a fair proceeding before an impartial tribunal,” according to the filing in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether baby-formula makers colluded on bids for attractive state contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Investors are scrambling to assess the fallout of a U.S. regulatory challenge against Amgen’s proposed $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, with some fearing a spillover to other big deals in the drug sector.
CVS’ potential acquisitions of two healthcare service providers Signify and Oak Street Health, along with other such deals, have been facing increasing scrutiny over their impact on cost of healthcare in the United States.
Billionaire investor Icahn, who owns 1.4% of Illumina, launched a proxy battle against the company earlier this month seeking divestment of cancer test developer Grail as the $7.1 billion acquisition cost investors billions of dollars.
Plaintiffs accused Novartis and Par Pharmaceutical of entering an illegal “reverse payment” agreement to delay launches of less expensive, generic versions of Exforge, which treats hypertension to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of strokes.
Antitrust regulators argue that Illumina, whose sequencers are being used by companies, hospitals and research centers, could unfairly prioritize Grail in the race to create tests for the early detection of multiple types of cancer. Illumina could raise prices or withhold the technology competing test developers need to thrive.
