Horizon Therapeutics
stock plunged 18% early Tuesday on reports that the Federal Trade Commission is set to challenge
Amgen’s
$27.8 billion deal to buy the biotech company.
The FTC is expected to file a lawsuit to block the acquisition as early as Tuesday, Reuters and Bloomberg reported. The regulator is concerned that the deal will hamper innovation and slow the pace of drug development, the latter reported.
Amgen
(ticker: AMGN) reached an agreement to buy Horizon (HZNP) in December last year, and at the time said it expected the deal to be completed in the first half of 2023.
Amgen
stock pointed 0.6% higher in premarket trading.
“If the FTC does move forward, we think it would be one of the weakest recent cases we’ve seen. We see no significant overlap for Amgen and Horizon,” Jefferies analysts, led by Akash Tewari said in a note Tuesday.
“We’d be buyers [of HZNP] on this dip pending confirmation from Amgen/ Horizon that both parties are willing to litigate any FTC challenge in court,” they added.
Separately, Jefferies analysts maintained a Buy rating on Amgen stock, estimating a potential three to five-month delay to the deal, but still expecting it to be completed.
“We are not aware of any decision made by the Commission. We will provide any appropriate updates when we have more information,” an Amgen spokesman said in an emailed statement.
Horizon did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Tuesday.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]
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