
‘The sleeping giant is waking up’: FTC raises the pressure on pharma dealmaking
In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission narrowly approved AbbVie’s $65 billion takeover of Allergan. It’s unlikely the antitrust enforcer would approve such a deal today.
The commission’s approval was accompanied by a 20-page dissent from then-Commissioner Rohit Chopra, who criticized the FTC’s handling of the merger and others like it. Letting the deal close based on an order that AbbVie divest overlapping products was a “narrow, flawed and ineffective” approach to regulating major pharmaceutical transactions, Chopra argued.
Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.
You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.