Antitrust & Competition Life Sciences Quarterly Update Q3 2022

The third quarter in the life sciences space showed that business is generally proceeding as usual, with large pharma players successfully acquiring or licensing in clinical stage assets without running into antitrust delays. That said, even these inherently procompetitive deals appear to be receiving at least some attention from the agencies. As such, being ready for scrutiny should help avoid extensive and costly reviews. Indeed, a recent trio of mergers within the sickle cell disease space shows the importance of adequate preparation and engagement.

Antitrust agency activity in other sectors is also instructive. The FTC’s challenge to the Meta/Within merger could portend difficulties for the life sciences space, but recent court defeats could temper the agencies’ appetite for challenges based on novel and/or more aggressive theories, including potential competition.