A group of consumer advocates and unions are trying to persuade the Federal Trade Commission to alter the terms of AbbVie's proposed $63 billion takeover of Allergan, STAT reported.
The groups sent a letter to the FTC Feb. 18 arguing the acquisition would hurt competition and keep drug prices high.
The European Commission has already approved the acquisition, but the FTC has not made a decision.
Last month, AbbVie offered to sell two of its drugs to AstraZeneca to ease regulators' concerns that the deal will create a monopoly.
But consumer groups argue that divesting the drugs isn't enough to make sure the market for similar drugs will be competitive.
Instead, the groups want the FTC to force AbbVie to divest its drug Skyrizi, already on the market, unlike the drugs that AbbVie has offered to divest. The groups pointed out that Bristol-Myers Squibb was required to sell its drug, Otzela, before it could complete its takeover of Celgene.
The groups said that AstraZeneca "lacks the product portfolio in immunology to adequately compete," even if it does buy AbbVie's drugs, so competition would still be damaged by the deal.
They also argued that the immunology drug market is "dominated by AbbVie, which uses a variety of exclusionary tactics to hamper rivals."
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