The European Commission cleared on Friday 10 January the proposed acquisition of Allergan Plc. (Republic of Ireland) by AbbVie Inc. (United States) for $63 billion (56.75 billion euros). Approval is conditional upon the divestment by Allergan of a product for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the Commission, explained that the Commission’s decision ensures that the merger “will not disrupt the development of a promising innovative treatment for these diseases”.
The Commission’s investigation focused on biological treatments for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, where AbbVie’s and Allergan’s activities overlap.
There is no cure for inflammatory bowel disease. Biologic medicines are usually prescribed after conventional therapies have failed.
AbbVie’s product portfolio includes several biologic medicines for inflammatory bowel diseases, including risankizumab (‘IL-23 inhibitors’), which is still in development, and Humira (a class of biologics known as ‘anti-TNF’). Allergan is also developing an IL-23 inhibitor called brazikumab.
The Commission found that brazikumab is likely to be in close competition with AbbVie’s risankizumab (same class of medicines). The Commission’s investigation confirmed that the transaction, as originally notified, would have led to a loss of innovation in treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases, as AbbVie would not continue to develop Allergan’s IL-23 inhibitor. The merger would have prevented a promising medicine from reaching the market (less choice and higher prices for patients and health systems).
In order to address the Commission’s competition concerns, AbbVie offered to divest brazikumab, Allergan’s IL-23 inhibitor pipeline product, including the rights to develop, manufacture and market it on a worldwide basis, to a purchaser that will continue its development. These commitments address the Commission’s concerns as they entirely eliminate the overlap between the IL-23 inhibitor medicines under development by AbbVie and Allergan. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)