Sen­a­tors to FTC: Don't let the big Cel­gene and Al­ler­gan buy­outs hurt R&D and con­sumers

The phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal in­dus­try has been merg­ing like Porsches on the Au­to­bahn of late, rais­ing con­cerns from unions and con­sumer groups that a grow­ing oli­gop­oly is pro­mot­ing an­ti-com­pet­i­tive prac­tices.

Now the merg­ers have pro­voked the ire of US law­mak­ers as eight De­mo­c­ra­t­ic sen­a­tors and one wily-haired in­de­pen­dent have writ­ten a let­ter to the Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion ask­ing the reg­u­la­to­ry agency to crack­down and specif­i­cal­ly scru­ti­nize two pend­ing deals: Ab­b­Vie’s $63 bil­lion bid for Al­ler­gan and Bris­tol-My­ers Squibb pro­posed $74 bil­lion ac­qui­si­tion of Cel­gene.

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.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER