The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking a deeper look into IQVIA’s attempt to snap up Propel Media, which owns pharma digital ad specialist DeepIntent, as the regulator questions whether the deal will create an unfair playing field in the digital market for pharma ads.
The story was first reported by Politico, which spoke to anonymous sources close to the deal. The sources told Politico that the FTC investigation, which had not been publicly revealed, has been “ongoing for months."
A spokesperson for IQVIA confirmed the FTC’s actions, telling Fierce Pharma Marketing: “We [IQVIA] will continue to work with the FTC to obtain clearance for the acquisition, which will benefit customers by expanding choices available in the market and lead to more innovative solutions.”
The issue, according to the Politico report, is that by buying Propel Media, IQVIA will gain an unfair market advantage for digital advertising for biopharma products by gaining access to DeepIntent. That’s because IQVIA is one of the world’s largest holders of pharmaceutical sales, prescription and patient record data, something the sources also believe could lead it to “monopolize” the pharma advertising market, according to the Politico report.
This could also “harm rivals and potentially increasing costs for drugmakers,” according to three of the people Politico spoke to, who were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential investigation.
This also comes after IQVIA snapped up Lasso Marketing, another pharma and healthcare ad technology company, just last year for $445 million as it looks to move more deeply into pharma advertising, an industry worth billions of dollars in the U.S. alone each year.
The IQVIA spokesperson did not believe the deal would be bad for the market.
“There are many companies, from very large, well-known companies (e.g., Google, Microsoft/Xandr, WebMD) to smaller recent entrants, providing technology, data and services to support digital advertising from life science companies to doctors and patients," the spokesperson said. “IQVIA began providing some of these services only in the past few years, and the DeepIntent business will fill a gap in IQVIA’s offerings by adding a demand-side platform.”
But that may not sway the FTC. “The FTC is nearing the end of its investigation, and staff lawyers reviewing the deal are leaning toward filing a lawsuit to block it,” according to two of the people speaking to Politico. The deal could, however, still be passed without any further hindrance, they added.
While DTC TV advertising remains king for pharma, digital advertising online and via nonlinear services is gathering pace, with estimates it could be worth up to $8 billion a year, and it's growing fast in the life sciences sector.
IQVIA, which made $14.4 billion last year, is the result of a 2017 combination of CRO Quintiles and biopharma and health data services firm IMS Health.