In its latest bid to police the pharmaceutical industry, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sought to block Sanofi from licensing a Pompe disease treatment made by another drug company. And in response, Sanofi is ending the deal.
Sanofi sought the rights to the medication from Maze Therapeutics, but the regulator argued the deal — valued at $775 million — would eliminate a “nascent competitor” that could, otherwise, challenge the monopoly Sanofi has in the market for Pompe disease treatments, according to an FTC statement. The agency had filed a complaint in a federal court in Boston and also planned to seek a preliminary injunction.
Pompe disease is a debilitating and potentially fatal genetic disorder that causes muscle weakness, which worsens over time. Currently, Sanofi sells two long-standing treatments approved to combat the illness, both of which are administered via lengthy, biweekly intravenous infusions and cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars for an annual course of treatment, according to the FTC.
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