Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has put the spotlight on Novo Holdings’ acquisition of Catalent, expressing concerns that the deal could give Novo Nordisk “unprecedented visibility” into its competitors’ manufacturing and allow it to potentially dominate the obesity and weight loss market unfairly.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Warren asked the Federal Trade Commission to “block” the deal if it’s found to be illegal under antitrust laws. As part of the $16.5 billion pact, Novo Nordisk is set to pay $11 billion to Novo Holdings for three Catalent sites, one of which makes drugs for rival Eli Lilly. Catalent has at least 53 facilities, according to its annual report released last month.
Warren warned the FTC that the deal opens the risks of Novo Nordisk having access to Lilly’s manufacturing workings. Specifically, the Danish pharma could look into or even potentially “control” its competitor’s production capacity, costs and business.
There is also the risk of these facilities preferentially producing Novo’s products over Lilly’s, Warren wrote. She alleges that Novo has a history of restricting competition in order to monopolize on profit and grab market share.
Endpoints News has reached out to Novo Holdings and Catalent for comment.
While both Novo and Lilly’s competitors are finding ways to edge out these leaders in the the laboratory and in clinical trials, the obesity and weight loss market race will ultimately be won by the company with the largest manufacturing footprint.
The Novo-Catalent deal, announced in February this year, was deemed “unusual” from the start. Lilly — Novo’s only other competitor in the commercial GLP-1 space — voiced its concerns about the deal, with CEO Dave Ricks stating it uses Catalent’s services. Lilly has recently been allocating billions to boost its internal manufacturing of GLP-1s.
The FTC has requested further information at least twice on the Novo-Catalent deal. In April, Novo Holdings had to resubmit the acquisition proposal, extending the decision by 30 days. A month later, in May, the FTC’s decision was pushed back again by 30 days, after the agency asked for more details. Catalent shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition on May 29.
Novo and Catalent have reiterated they expect the deal to complete before the end of the year.