FTC puts conditions on Valeant's acquisition of Precision Dermatology

Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (TSX: VRX) and its takeover target Precision Dermatology have agreed to sell or relinquish rights to the latter’s branded single-agent topical tretinoins and generic Retin-A, common acne treatments, to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that  Valeant’s proposed $475 million acquisition of Precision would likely be anticompetitive, it was announced on Thursday.

According to the FTC complaint, Valeant’s planned takeover of the US dermatology firm would likely reduce competition in the market for branded and generic single-agent topical tretinoins, and in a separate market for generic Retin-A. Valeant and Precision are the only two significant suppliers of branded single-agent topical tretinoins, and the proposed acquisition would eliminate current competition between them. The companies are also the two largest suppliers of generic Retin-A. The proposed acquisition would give Valeant a monopoly in four of five versions of generic Retin-A and reduce competition in the remaining version.

To sell assets to Actavis and Matawan