Brussels, 25/08/2005 (Agence Europe) -The European Commission has authorised plans by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to purchase its fellow American company and competitor Guidant, a company which specialises in cardiovascular devices. This operation, which has been valued at 19 billion EUR, required commitments from both parties, which will sell assets related to J&J's manoeuvrable guides within the European Economic Area and all of Guidant's endovascular and heart surgery (Endoscopic Vein Harvesting - EVH). "I needed to make sure that consumers would not have to pay more for vital medical devices produced by these companies and that any changes to the competition structure on these markets would not take place at the expense of consumer well-being", said Neelie Kroes, Commissioner in charge of Competition.
The Commission's in-depth investigation, which was opened at the end of April (EUROPE 8935), allowed all risks to be removed in one of the three main areas of concern: impregnated stents of drugs for use in coronary arteries and accessories used in the treatment of coronary arteries. Although Guidant has gone as a potential competitor on this market, which is in a period of sharp growth and which is dominated by J&J and Boston Scientific, "the other newcomers (Medtronic and Abbott) will be able to exercise sufficient competition constraint, thus compensating for the reduced competition resulting from the acquisition of Guidant by J&J ", the Commission concluded. The Commission has, on the other hand, noted difficulties into other sectors. J&J and Guidant are effectively the main suppliers for the market in endovascular stents and for that of accessories used to treat peripheral arteries, on which there are also major obstacles to entry. In the same way, bringing the two companies together will have affected competition on two small markets for heart devices (interventional cardiology for manoeuvrable guides and EVH systems). The commitments proposed by both sides, the time-frame for which has not been divulged, were enough to allow the operation to be authorised.