The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made a request for additional information regarding AbbVie’s proposed US$63 billion purchase of Allergan, reported Reuters.
The deal, announced in June, would create a company with US$48.5 billion in combined revenue and a product line of more than 50 therapies, including AbbVie’s Humira, the best-selling drug in the world, and Allergan’s popular wrinkle-smoother Botox.
North Chicago-based AbbVie and Dublin, Ireland-based Allergan are cooperating with the FTC and expect to close the transaction in early 2020, AbbVie said in a statement on Friday, September 27.
The FTC’s request was issued under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, which requires large companies to file a report before completing a merger, the statement adds.
Unions and other groups, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, earlier this month asked the FTC to block the deal at a time when high drug costs are a hot-button issue. In a letter dated September 4, the groups expressed concern that the merger could “exacerbate anticompetitive patent practices.“
Full Content: Reuters
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