Robert Galbraith | Reuters
The therapeutic horizonThe share price fell greater than 17% in pre-market trading on Tuesday after it was reported that the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to file a lawsuit to block the $27.8 billion sale of the biotech company Amgen.
FTC can sue for blocking acquisition already on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous source.
Horizon Therapeutics and Amgen didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The FTC declined to comment.
Two drugmakers said in February that the FTC had sent them second request for acquisition information as a part of the Agency’s review of the contract.
Thousand Oaks, California based in Amgen concluded a contract bought Horizon Therapeutics in early December and said it expects to complete the sale in the first half of this yr.
The move was an attempt to bolster Amgen’s drug portfolio, which is preparing to tackle the challenge several patent expirations for key therapies over the next decade.
This features a patent on medicine that treats psoriasisan autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of the skin.
Based in Ireland, Horizon would expand Amgen’s drug portfolio to include treatments for rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases.
Horizon offers two fast-growing drugs, including the eye thyroid drug Tepezza and the gout drug Krystexxa.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in January expressed concern about the potential impact of the transaction on competition on the drug market.
The acquisition and one other proposed merger in the biopharmaceutical industry – between Indivor and Opiant – could “further increase the price of life-saving drugs and forestall inexpensive alternatives from entering the market,” Warren he wrote in a letter FTC Chair Lina Khan and two agency commissioners.
She urged the FTC to “thoroughly investigate” each agreements.