FTC restricts Mylan’s acquisition of Agila amid antitrust fears

Mylan Inc will be forced to divest injectable generic drugs before it can complete a proposed $1.85 billion acquisition of Agila Specialities Global Pte Ltd and Agila Specialties Pvt Ltd after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) applied conditions to the deal.

The FTC requires that generic drugmaker Mylan and therapeutics manufacturer Agila divest 11 injectable products before allowing Mylan to acquire the therapeutics manufacturer from Indian pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab Ltd.

The FTC complaint said that Mylan and Agila are two of only a limited number of current or likely future competitors in the market for the drugs and that reducing the number of competitors would eliminate important competition and could lead to higher prices.

It added that the products in question – sterile liquid drugs – are vulnerable to supply disruptions due to the difficulties associated with producing them.

The drugs treat a range of conditions including heart disease, hypertension and cancer.

“This proposed settlement will ensure that these important generic injectable medications … remain available at a competitive price, now and in the foreseeable future,” said the director of the FTC’s bureau of competition Deborah Feinstein.

“Preserving existing competition is especially important in markets for injectable drugs where supply disruptions have led to shortages,” she added.

Mylan did not respond to a request for comment.