US FTC puts divestment conditions on Watson's acquisition of Actavis

The USA’s Federal Trade Commission will require Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) and fellow generic drugmaker Actavis to sell the rights and assets to 18 drugs to Sandoz International (the generics unit of Novartis) and US firm Par Pharmaceuticals, and relinquish the manufacturing and marketing rights to three others, to settle charges that Watson’s proposed $5.9 billion acquisition of Actavis (The Pharma Letter April 26) would otherwise be anticompetitive. Watson has agreed to make the divestments.

Earlier this month, the European Commission approved the acquisition, saying it would not hurt competition and noting: "The investigation showed that despite significant changes in the competitive situation in some of the markets, a sufficient number of credible and strong competitors will continue to exercise a competitive constraint on the merged entity."

The US settlement protects competition in the markets for 21 current and future generic drugs, used to treat a wide range of conditions ranging from hypertension and diabetes to anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).