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Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order settling charges that Grifols, S.A.’s acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp., a rival in the market for plasma-derived drugs, was anticompetitive and would have resulted in higher prices for consumers.

The FTC’s order requires Grifols to sell the Talecris fractionation facility in Melville, New York, and Grifols’ plasma collection centers in Mobile, Alabama, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Kedrion S.p.A. Kedrion is a manufacturer of plasma-derived products in Europe and other markets, and is a new entrant in the U.S. plasma-derived products industry. The order also requires Grifols to manufacture three plasma-derived products for Kedrion for several years under a manufacturing agreement.

The Commission vote approving the final order was 5-0. It can be found on the FTC’s website and as a link to this press release. (FTC File No. 101-0153, Docket No. C-4322; the staff contact is Peter Herrick, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2876; see press release dated June 1, 2011)

Copies of the document mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP. Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.