Consumer, labor groups urge FTC to block Catalent sale to Novo Holdings

A coalition of unions, consumer groups and public interest organizations urged the Federal Trade Commission to challenge a $16.5 billion deal in which Novo Nordisk’s parent foundation would acquire Catalent, a leading contract drug manufacturer, over concerns the acquisition will harm competition and reduce patient access to popular diabetes and weight loss medicines.

In a letter sent Thursday, the coalition noted that Novo is the market leader in sales of so-called GLP-1 drugs with approximately a 54% share of the North American market. At the same time, Catalent is one of the “very few” contract drug manufacturers that provides specialized development and manufacturing services to companies that sell these medicines.

If the deal were to go through, “Novo would have the ability and incentive to foreclose its current and future GLP-1 rivals from obtaining access to Catalent sites and to otherwise disadvantage current and future GLP-1 rivals in favor of Novo’s own products,” the coalition wrote. Eli Lilly, a chief Novo rival, uses Catalent for filling and packaging, and has complained openly about the deal.