When Amgen revealed its intention to buy Horizon Therapeutics in 2022's largest biopharma buyout, executives with the California-based drugmaker said they hoped to close the deal in the first half of 2023. Now, thanks to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit and court scheduling, the companies are targeting mid-December.
In a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amgen said that the most recent litigation schedule established by the court "would allow the acquisition to close by mid-December if the court denies the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction."
After the FTC filed its lawsuit challenging the proposed merger, the parties entered into a temporary restraining order that stipulated the companies wouldn't move to close the deal before Sept. 15.
Now, the companies are pushing back the restraining order date until Oct. 31 "or the second business day after the court rules on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction."
Up next, the sides are set to present their arguments at an evidentiary hearing starting Sept. 11.
“We still expect the deal to close by mid-December 2023 and remain very excited about what Amgen and Horizon can do together for patients around the world suffering from rare diseases," an Amgen spokesperson said in a statement.
In its lawsuit, the FTC argues Amgen could leverage its portfolio of drugs to "entrench the monopoly positions” of Horizon’s thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza and gout treatment Krystexxa. The agency says Amgen has a history of so-called drug "bundling" in negotiations with payers.
For its part, Amgen has said it won't follow that strategy with Horizon drugs.
It's the first time the FTC has targeted a company's history in pricing drugs in attempting to block a biopharma merger. Antitrust experts have voiced some skepticism around the merits of the case. For instance, after hosting a conference call with key opinion leaders, analysts with SVB Securities recently wrote to clients that they “continue to believe the FTC is unlikely to win its litigation.”
Amgen and Horizon agreed to their merger in December 2022. The deal, valued at $27.8 billion, was the largest biopharma M&A transaction struck last year.