Amgen issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) complaint seeking to block the company's proposed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc:
"Amgen is disappointed by the FTC's decision and remains committed to completing this acquisition, which will bring significant benefits to patients suffering from very serious rare diseases in the U.S. and around the world.
We have been working cooperatively over the past several months to address the questions raised by the FTC's investigative staff and believe we have overwhelmingly demonstrated that this combination poses no legitimate competitive issues.
The medicines offered by Amgen and Horizon generally treat different diseases and patient populations, and there are no overlaps of competitive concern. The FTC's claim that Amgen might "bundle" these medicines (offer a multi-product discount) at some point in the future is entirely speculative and does not reflect the real world competitive dynamics behind providing rare-disease medicines to patients. And we committed that we would not bundle the Horizon products raised as issues; however, the Commission still decided to pursue this path. Furthermore, we are unaware of any prior acquisition that has been blocked under a bundling theory.
We firmly believe in the benefits of this acquisition and intend to work with the court on a schedule that would allow the transaction to close by mid-December."