As U.S. pharmacy benefit companies face scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators, the main group representing them in Washington has nearly doubled its lobbying spend to over $15 million in 2023, a Reuters review of congressional disclosures shows.
Tag Archive for: Federal Trade Commission
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge acted properly in imposing the ban and ordering Shkreli to repay $64.6 million because of his antitrust violations.
Following a U.S. appeals court decision, the company said it is preparing to divest GRAIL through a third-party sale or capital markets transaction.
With the settlement of a big acquisition behind them and a strong portfolio of therapeutics that continues to expand, hopes for smooth sailing are on the horizon.
In a settlement on September 1, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared Amgen to proceed with its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics after several months of scrutiny. Some experts say the agreement is a setback for the agency.
The case will be “withdrawn from adjudication” until Sept. 18, according to the filing, and this will allow the FTC to consider other avenues of resolving the matter, including a settlement.
The Federal Trade Commission seeks to codify its heavier-handed approach, already displayed by its actions regarding Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon, among other deals.
The delay follows a lawsuit filed by the FTC last week seeking to block the proposed merger between the two companies, alleging that the deal would sharply reduce competition in healthcare programmatic advertising “by combining two of the top three providers” in the space.
The new guidelines mark a significant shift in the approach to examining mergers in the pharma industry. Previously, the federal government’s antitrust enforcers primarily focused on direct competition, but the updated guidelines now consider how companies leverage their negotiating power.
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.
