Nearly 9 months after Amgen Inc. first announced it would be purchasing Horizon Therapeutics PLC, and one lawsuit later, the deal is officially moving forward.
Refresh me on Amgen.
Amgen is one of the largest independent biotechnology companies in the world. Based in California, it focuses on the research and development of therapies in areas such as inflammation, nephrology, and hematology/oncology. (via)
Now some background on this deal.
Amgen originally announced the $27.8 billion acquisition in December 2022.
The deal include Horizon’s Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw)—the first FDA-approved treatment for thyroid eye disease (TED)—as well as Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon), the only FDA-approved, B cell-depleting antibody monotherapy treatment for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults.
See here for a complete list of Horizon’s current and upcoming programs.
So why the delay?
It all comes down to an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed in May 2022 and the subsequent restraining order issued by a U.S. district court judge against Amgen.
You’ve got to give me more.
Filed on May 16, the lawsuit expressed the FTC’s concern over the potential that Amgen would use its deal with Horizon to “leverage its profile of blockbuster drugs to entrench monopoly positions of Horizon medications used to treat two serious conditions”—including TED.
And Amgen’s response?
The company issued a statement on its cooperation with the agency, assuring the FTC that “there are no overlaps with competitive concern” with Amgen and Horizon’s medication, and stating it would not bundle the Horizon products (as the agency feared).
Further, Amgen agreed to not close on the deal before Sept. 15 or until after a court verdict was given for the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction.
So what’s happened since then?
Amgen announced on September 1 that the lawsuit has been resolved with the FTC via a consent order agreement—a settlement agreement made by the judge with the approval of both Amgen and the FTC— clearing the way for the deal to close.
According to a company release, “Amgen and Horizon expect that the parties will jointly file stipulated proposed orders to dismiss the preliminary injunction motion and dissolve the temporary restraining order (TRO) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.”
And the timeline for this closing?
Per Amgen, the acquisition is now expected to close in early Q4 2023.