US FTC clears AbbVie's buy of Allergan, but with divestments

Almost a year after the original announcement, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted the proposed consent order in connection with AbbVie's (NYSE: ABBV) pending $63 billion acquisition of Ireland-incorporated Allergan (NYSE: AGN).

The acceptance by the FTC satisfies all required antitrust clearances needed to be obtained for the acquisition of Allergan by AbbVie. The acquisition was cleared by the European Commission in early March this year, also with the divestiture of brazikumab.

As part of the proposed consent, Allergan has agreed to divest brazikumab, an investigational interleukin (IL) 23 inhibitor in development for autoimmune diseases, to AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and Zenpep (pancrelipase), a treatment for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency due to cystic fibrosis and other conditions, to Nestle (NESN: VX). Nestle also will be acquiring Viokace (pancrelipase), another pancreatic enzyme preparation, as part of the same transaction.