Antitrust developments in the health care and pharmaceutical industries were exceptionally active in 2023. From the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) challenge of a merger between Amgen Inc. (Amgen) and Horizon Therapeutics plc (Horizon), to joint agency withdrawal of well-established health care merger policy statements, to agency interest in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), we review some of the most notable antitrust activity in the health care and pharmaceutical industries over the past year.

Amgen/Horizon

Back in December 2022, Amgen, a California-based biotechnology company, announced its plans to acquire Horizon, an Irish biopharmaceutical company focused on medicines for rare and rheumatic diseases, for around $28 billion. In the announcement for the deal, Amgen noted that Horizon would add a complementary pipeline of medicines to the company’s R&D portfolio, as in fact, none of Amgen’s drugs compete with those of Horizon.