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The agency said it was opposing the deal because it would give Amgen “monopoly positions” for medicines used to treat thyroid eye disease and chronic refractory gout.
The deal, which was announced in December 2022, would give Amgen two fast-growing drugs, the thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout treatment Krystexxa. Amgen hopes the revenue from those medicines can act as a bulwark against competition that has eroded sales of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel.
Other key drugs in Amgen’s product portfolio, such as psoriasis therapy Otezla, face the loss of patent protections over the next few years.
The FTC, which currently has three Democratic commissioners, voted 3-0 to approve the challenge.
It is unusual for the agency to sue to stop a pharmaceutical deal. In recent years, the agency has typically identified therapeutic overlaps in the companies involved and required one of the medicines to be divested.
