Life Sciences Horizons Brochure 2025 - Flipbook - Page 54
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2025 Horizons Life Sciences and Health Care
Pharmaceutical antitrust enforcement under new U.S. and EU leadership
In the U.S., with the inauguration of President Trump,
Republicans have taken the helm of the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC). During the Biden administration,
the FTC under Democratic leadership had a clear
mandate to target the pharmaceutical industry,
bringing cases based on traditional as well as
more novel theories of competitive harm. The FTC
under Trump is likely to continue to focus on the
pharmaceutical industry. However, we expect the FTC
to hew more closely to traditional antitrust theories,
and away from the more novel theories that were a
hallmark of the Biden-era FTC.
The FTC may also broadly be more “merger-friendly” than in
recent years, with greater receptivity to divestitures to resolve
deal concerns. Nonetheless, there may be potential exceptions:
notably, it was during the first Trump administration that the FTC
announced that it would no longer accept divestitures of inhalant
and injectable pipeline drugs in pharmaceutical mergers where
one party has a marketed product. Finally, state attorneys general
have been increasingly active in antitrust enforcement in recent
years, and states may increase enforcement on health care issues
if there is some perception of the FTC “stepping back” on
this front.
Over in the EU, on 01 December 2024, Teresa Ribera was
appointed the First Executive Vice-President of the European
Commission for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition. Ribera
is also responsible for driving the EU’s competition policy. With
respect to mergers, Ribera has spoken about guarding against
“killer acquisitions,” and has expressed interest in revisiting the
EC’s ability to call-in below-threshold transactions. Life sciences
companies doing deals should consider carefully their EU filing
strategies and whether approaches to the EC would be advisable.
Ribera has also hinted at the EU’s deployment of a variety
of enforcement tools — including merger and foreign
direct investment reviews and foreign subsidies regulation
investigations — to protect European businesses, reflecting
a broader “pro-Europe” sentiment that could translate into
protectionist measures for EU companies. With respect to
competition enforcement, Ribera is expected to continue focusing
on the pharmaceutical industry, in particular with regard to
abuse of dominance cases. Issues such as excessive pricing
and competitor denigration are also expected to remain on
the EC’s radar. Ribera has also suggested the possibility of
issuing guidance on abuses of dominance relating to
exploitative practices.
Lauren Battaglia
Partner
Washington, D.C.
May Lyn Yuen
Partner
Brussels
Ilana Kattan
Counsel
Washington, D.C.
