By Jody Godoy and Maggie Fick
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. consumer groups and two major unions urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday to block Novo Holdings, the majority shareholder of Novo Nordisk (NYSE ), from acquiring contract drug maker Catalent (NYSE ), saying The deal threatens competition in weight-loss drugs and cutting-edge gene therapies.
The US Public Interest Research Group, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and others expressed concerns in a letter to the FTC about the $16.5 billion deal, which Novo Holdings said would increase supply of Wegovy, Novo's successful GLP-1 injectable weight loss drug. .
Last week, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, asked the FTC to closely examine the deal over similar concerns.
The deal could limit the options of competitors such as Amgen (NASDAQ:), Pfizer (NYSE:), Roche and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:), who are reportedly developing their own GLP-1 drugs, the groups said.
“Due to the proposed acquisition, there is a real question of whether these future Novo rivals will be able to secure the expertise to bring the product to market and will have available and qualified capacity to manufacture these products when they are commercially launched,” the groups state. saying.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:), Structure Therapeutics and Sun Pharma also have GLP-1 drugs in development and could be affected, the groups said.
A Viking spokesman declined to comment. The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Under the terms of the deal, Novo Holdings would sell three of Catalent's factories, where injection pens are filled under sterile conditions, in Italy, Belgium and the United States, to Novo Nordisk for $11 billion.
Novo Nordisk has said it is committed to honoring existing contracts at the plants and is not aware of any competitive LPG-1 products being manufactured for commercial sale at the three sites.
The groups, which included Consumer Action, diabetes group Beta Cell Action, Doctors for America and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), also expressed concern that ownership of Novo Holding could affect the ability of Catalent to manufacture gene therapies.
AFSCME represents about 1.6 million public sector workers and SEIU has about 2 million members working in health care, public sector and real estate services.
Ten consumer groups signed the letter Thursday afternoon.
“The competitive concerns here go far beyond existing drugs. We believe the commission should look at the impact on future therapies, including gene therapy,” said David Balto, the antitrust attorney who represents the groups and drafted the letter.
The letter mentioned Catalent's contracts with Zarephath Therapeutics (NASDAQ:), to produce its Elevidys gene therapy, and with Novartis (SIX:), to produce its Zolgensma gene therapy. The Catalent facilities involved are separate from the three factories that Novo Holdings plans to sell to Novo Nordisk.
Sarepta does not foresee any impact from the Catalent acquisition, spokeswoman Tracy Sorrentino said Thursday. Sarepta's contract with Catalent extends until 2028.
A Novartis spokesperson said Thursday that Zolgensma is no longer manufactured at any Catalent facility.
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