Staff from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Canada’s Competition Bureau, the European Commission Directorate General for Competition, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and Offices of State Attorneys General have issued a notice seeking public comment to inform their review of how to best update their approaches to analyzing the effects of pharmaceutical mergers.
The agencies announced in March that they have launched a working group, now called the Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force, to identify concrete and actionable steps to review and update the analysis of pharmaceutical mergers. This project will ensure that FTC investigations include fresh approaches that fully analyze and address the varied competitive concerns that these mergers and acquisitions raise. It taps expertise from competition authorities with whom the FTC cooperates frequently, as well as others with relevant experience.
“Public input is critical to the process of refreshing our approach pharmaceutical mergers,” said Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter. “In the face of skyrocketing drug prices and ongoing concerns about anticompetitive conduct by pharmaceutical companies, we need to ensure that our investigations fully capture the potential impact on prices, quality, access, drug supply chain resilience, capital market investment, and innovation for new drugs.”
Task Force members encourage the public, including health policy experts, economists, attorneys, scientists, health care practitioners, academics, and consumers, to share ideas that will lead to the development of future enforcement and policy efforts.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
UK Competition Watchdog to Investigate Carlsberg’s £3.3bn Takeover of Britvic
Sep 11, 2024 by
CPI
News Corp Faced Millions in Losses by Moving Away from Google Ads, Ex-Executive Testifies
Sep 10, 2024 by
CPI
EU Faces Critical Innovation Gap, Draghi Report Urges Antitrust Reforms
Sep 10, 2024 by
CPI
Womble Bond Dickinson and Lewis Roca to Merge, Forming 1,300-Lawyer Firm
Sep 10, 2024 by
CPI
Federal Judge Dismisses Antitrust Lawsuit Against Fidelity and Schwab
Sep 10, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI