Victor Golmar
Contract manufacturing organization executives said they were looking into the acquisition of Catalent by Novo Nordisk (NVO).NYSE:CTLT) will promote competition.
American Injectables CEO Beau Garrett has met twice with the Federal Trade Commission, telling regulators: The FTC is likely to support the deal, CTFN reported, citing an interview with the executive, who said he would be surprised if the FTC blocked the deal.
Garrett said industry expectations are that if Novo (NVO) were to acquire Catalent (CTLT), the company would prioritize GLP-1 production over other drugs, opening the door to competition as Catalent’s customers look for other sources of supply. A Catalent-Novo deal could benefit smaller and mid-sized CDMOs.
A lawyer familiar with the deal said Catalent (CTLT) and Thermo Fisher (TMO) are uniquely positioned as the only full-service CDMOs based in the U.S. The acquisition could give Novo a significant barrier to market entry, threatening its rivals, he explained.
Catalent (CTLT) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation received requests from the FTC in May for more information about the planned transaction. In February, Catalent said it had agreed to be acquired by Novo Holdings for $16.5 billion. Novo Holdings will then sell three of Catalent’s manufacturing sites to Novo Nordisk (NVO), which will increase production of its wildly popular weight-loss drug, Wegoby.
