While M&A activity slowed in the first quarter of 2025, including in life sciences, there have been plenty of noteworthy developments in the antitrust space in the first 100 days of the Trump administration....more
5/14/2025
/ AbbVie ,
Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartwright Act ,
Consent Decrees ,
Drug Pricing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance ,
IP License ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
Merck ,
Mergers ,
Novo Nordisk ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs
The last year (and particularly the last few months) of the Biden Administration brought a flurry of activity from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the life sciences space, continuing a yearslong pattern of close...more
2/21/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular ,
Sherman Act ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
9/10/2024
/ AbbVie ,
Abuse of Dominance ,
Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Eli Lilly ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Orange Book ,
Patents ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular ,
Sanofi ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released the final version of revised Merger Guidelines...more
The FTC’s Amgen/Horizon Lawsuit Ends With a Whimper -
We covered the FTC’s investigation into (and litigation challenging) Amgen’s $28.3 billion acquisition of rare disease specialist Horizon Therapeutics in our Q1 and...more
10/24/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Clinical Trials ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Settlement
The second quarter saw significant enforcement and dealmaking in the life sciences space. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its attempt to block Amgen/Horizon, the first such challenge to a life science transaction...more
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released a long-awaited draft version of revised Merger...more
7/21/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Premerger...more
Our prior updates covered how FTC enforcement activity largely proceeded “as usual” during 2022 in the life sciences industry, with large pharmaceutical players buying or licensing promising, but still risky, assets from...more
5/25/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular
M&A activity in the life sciences space proceeded largely as usual in 2022, with most transactions receiving expected levels of agency scrutiny and closing in the normal course despite aggressive rhetoric from new leadership...more
2/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biotechnology ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GlaxoSmithKline ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Novo Nordisk ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Risk Management
The third quarter in the life sciences space showed that business is generally proceeding as usual, with large pharma players successfully acquiring or licensing in clinical stage assets without running into antitrust delays....more
11/10/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GlaxoSmithKline ,
Health Technology ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Metadata ,
Mobile Apps ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Virtual Reality
Although the second quarter did not feature any life sciences enforcement action by the FTC, there was plenty of news in and around the space. The FTC held a detailed “virtual workshop” as part of its pharmaceutical...more
Despite the aggressive rhetoric, the change in the leadership and composition at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) did not result in more enforcement in 2021. As the calendar turned to 2022, the FTC seems to be stepping...more
5/3/2022
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Consent Decrees ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Dialysis Providers ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Private Equity