The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has given Germany’s Fresenius Medical Care and US home dialysis equipment maker NxStage Medical antitrust approval for their merger, the agency said on Tuesday, February 19.
To win approval for the US$2 billion deal, the companies agreed to sell NxStage’s bloodline tubing set business, the agency stated. Fresenius and NxStage together dominate the market for the single-use plastic tubes used during dialysis, the agency stated.
The five FTC commissioners split along party lines in voting on whether to approve the merger. The three Republicans—Joseph Simons, Noah Phillips, and Christine Wilson—voted “yes,” while Democrats Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Slaughter dissented.
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