The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit seeking to block biotechnology company Amgen from buying Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion — the first time the FTC has tried to stop a pharmaceutical merger in years., which has its U.S. headquarters in Deerfield. The deal would allow Amgen to strengthen Horizon’s monopoly, when it comes to two of Horizon’s medications: Tepezza, used to treat thyroid eye disease, and Krystexxa, used to treat chronic refractory gout, the FTC alleges.
The FTC alleges that if Amgen buys Horizon, Amgen will likely make it more difficult for other drug companies to bring drugs to market to compete with Tepezz and Krystexxa. Because those drugs don’t currently face competition, Horizon charges about $350,000 for a six-month course of treatment of Tepezza and about $650,000 for an annual supply of Krystexxa, according to the FTC.
Horizon had about 2,000 employees globally, including about 600 at its U.S. headquarters in Deerfield, as of late last year. It’s not yet clear exactly what will become of Horizon’s Deerfield offices if the deal closes. Amgen and Horizon said in a formal document announcing the plan in December that the combined companies’ global headquarters would be in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Amgen would evaluate whether to consolidate some or all of the company’s other locations to California and other Amgen locations.
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