Abbott’s $25bn St. Jude acquisition would be anti-competitive, says FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has found after a public comment period that Abbott Laboratories’ $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical would probably be anti-competitive.

As explained by the FTC in a statement, released yesterday, February 23, the agency had earlier filed a complaint which alleged that the “acquisition would likely harm competition in the US markets for vascular closure devices”.

Vascular closure devices are used to close holes in arteries resulting from the insertion of catheters for treating heart arrhythmias.

Following the order, Abbott and St. Jude Medical must divest all rights and assets regarding their anti-competitive business to Tokyo-based medical device maker Terumo Corporation.

The parties are also required to help Terumo establish manufacturing capabilities for the vascular closure products.

The FTC said in its statement: “Abbott is also required to notify the FTC if it intends to acquire lesion-assessing ablation catheter assets from Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, known as ACT. Abbott and ACT have formed a partnership to develop these catheters.”

St. Jude is one of only two companies in the US which provides lesion-assessing ablation catheters.

The FTC added: “After the acquisition of St. Jude, if Abbott acquired lesion-assessing ablation catheter assets from ACT, it could eliminate additional competition that would result from an independent ACT.”