Celgene Corp.'s decision to sell its blockbuster psoriasis drug Otezla (apremilast) to win US Federal Trade Commission approval of its merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. surprised many investors, as the treatment overlapped with a BMS late stage pipeline product and the companies could have tried to divest that asset instead of a proven money maker. But the FTC signaled last year that it would prefer merging companies get rid of a marketed drug rather than a pipeline product to resolve antitrust concerns.
Bruce Hoffman, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, announced this policy with respect to complex pharmaceutical products. While he...
