The Federal Trade Commission said that there are no ongoing talks with Amgen Inc. to resolve a legal challenge to it $27.8 billion takeover of Horizon Therapeutics Plc after the agency rejected a settlement overture made earlier this year.
(Bloomberg) — The Federal Trade Commission said that there are no ongoing talks with Amgen Inc. to resolve a legal challenge to it $27.8 billion takeover of Horizon Therapeutics Plc after the agency rejected a settlement overture made earlier this year.
During a hearing Wednesday in the FTC’s in-house court, agency lawyer Nathan Brenner said the FTC engaged in settlement discussions earlier in the case and remains “open to hearing proposals.”
David Marriott, a lawyer for Amgen, acknowledged the earlier talks but said the company believes there is “no anticompetitive effect” by the deal to fix.
The FTC sued over the proposed acquisition in May, arguing it would allow Amgen to entrench Horizon’s monopoly on medications for thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout. A federal court in Illinois has scheduled a two-week hearing in September on the FTC’s request to pause the transaction ahead of an in-house trial on the deal, currently scheduled for Oct. 25.
At Wednesday’s hearing, FTC Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell urged the parties to seek a delay in the in-house trial to ensure the federal court decision on an injunction is issued before he hears the case.
Read More: Amgen’s Horizon Therapeutics Merger Headed to September Trial
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.