Markets Wired

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that Mylan Inc.’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Swedish drug maker Meda would likely be anticompetitive.

Under the FTC’s order, first announced in July 2016, the companies will be required to divest the U.S. rights to two generic drugs, 250 mg generic carisoprodol tablets, which treat muscle spasms and stiffness, and 400 mg and 600 mg generic felbamate tablets, which treat refractory epilepsy.

The FTC sought the drug divestments on the grounds that the acquisition would likely have otherwise led consumers to pay higher prices, and that it would also have eliminated competition between Mylan and Meda in the markets for both drugs.

Under the proposed order, the U.S.-based generic pharmaceutical company Alvogen Pharma US, Inc. will acquire all of Mylan’s rights and assets related to 400 mg and 600 mg felbamate tablets. The order also requires Mylan to relinquish its U.S. marketing rights for 250 mg generic carisoprodol tablets. With the settlement, Indicus Pharma LLC, which owns the product, will reacquire the rights and be able to enter into an agreement with a new marketing partner.

The Commission vote approving the final order was 3-0. (FTC File No. 161-0102; the staff contact is Christina Perez, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2048.)

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