Amgen agrees not to seek quick close to Horizon acquisition

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:) has agreed not to quickly close on its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit to block the deal.

A U.S. district court judge issued a temporary restraining order late on Wednesday after the two companies and the FTC reached an agreement that both sides said in a joint filing would permit a full briefing and “less-compressed consideration” by the court of the FTC request.

Absent an agreement, Amgen could have sought to close the deal as early as Monday.

Under the order, Amgen and Horizon will not close their transaction until the earlier of Sept. 15, or the second business day after the court rules on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction.

California-based Amgen, which had earlier hoped to close the deal in the first half of this year, had said on Tuesday it would work with the court in a bid to complete the transaction by mid-December.

In its lawsuit the FTC said it believed Amgen could leverage its big selling drugs to pressure insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to favor Horizon’s two key products – the fast-growing thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout drug Krystexxa – over potential competitors.

Amgen said it had made an offer to the FTC in the hope of resolving the issue. “We committed that we would not bundle the Horizon products raised as issues,” Amgen said in a statement.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the FTC faces an uphill battle in its fight against the deal with an untested argument, three antitrust experts said.