California, other states join FTC bid to block Amgen deal
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[June 23, 2023]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The states of California, New York, Illinois,
Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin have joined a Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) lawsuit to stop Amgen's $27.8 billion deal to buy
Horizon Therapeutics, according to a court filing on Thursday.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his state had joined the
lawsuit because "monopolies harm consumers" and the merger could allow
Amgen to "dominate" prescription drug markets.
The group of six states filed an amended complaint Thursday, joining the
FTC which last month filed suit opposing the deal because it would give
Amgen "monopoly positions" for medicines used to treat thyroid eye
disease and chronic refractory gout.
"Amgen's proposed acquisition of Horizon is dangerous for the future of
medicine, dangerous for innovation and research, and most importantly,
dangerous for sick people in need of often lifesaving drugs," California
Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
The FTC acquisition marks a change for the agency, which previously had
typically flagged therapeutic overlaps in companies and waved deals
through after requiring one of the medicines to be divested.
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![](../images/062323PIX/health43.jpg)
An Amgen sign is seen at the company's
office in South San Francisco, California October 21, 2013.
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jun/23/images/ads/current/heartlandcollege_lda_060123.jpg) Amgen said in a statement last month
it was disappointed by the FTC decision and it believed it had
"overwhelmingly demonstrated" that the deal had no legitimate
competitive issues.
Amgen announced plans to buy Horizon in December, saying that its
rare disease drugs would offer it some protection from the drug
pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which are aimed
at drugs most widely used by the government's Medicare health plan.
The last major pharmaceutical deal approved by the FTC was
AstraZeneca's $39 billion acquisition of Alexion Pharma in April
2021, about two months before FTC Chair Lina Khan was appointed by
the Biden administration.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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