FTC eyes new approach to pharmaceutical mergers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is eyeing a tougher approach to its review of pharmaceutical mergers.
The commission said in a statement Tuesday it is launching a working group with domestic and international agencies to “identify concrete and actionable steps to review and update the analysis of pharmaceutical mergers.”
“This project will ensure that FTC investigations include fresh approaches that fully analyze and address the varied competitive concerns that these mergers and acquisitions raise,” the commission said.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democrat designated by President Biden as acting chairwoman of the FTC after he entered office in January, said in a Twitter thread the agency needs to “revamp” its approach to such mergers amid “skyrocketing drug prices and ongoing anticompetitive conduct in the pharma industry.”
The FTC will be working with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and offices of state attorneys general as well as the Canadian Competition Bureau, the European Commission Directorate General for Competition, and the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority.
Tea leaves: The pharmaceutical industry could be in for a tough few years, with Democrats in unified control of government, and bipartisan agreement to tackle drug costs. One way to do that? Regulate some of the industry’s monopolistic tendencies.
