Keep pushing ahead with the merger Pfizer and Mylan make concessions!

mylan and Upjohn have been delayed because of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. But in practice, the two companies do not want the expected plan to be overstreded.On March 31st, the two companies agreed to meet with intermediary regulators to remove obstacles to Europe's antitrust laws and move forward with the merger, according to the fiercepharma website. Mylan and Pfizer have agreed to make concessions on some of the contents of their pending mergers in an antitrust review of their outstanding mergers, according to a commission document. The EU, however, has not given details of the concessions, but antitrust lawmakers are usually most concerned about the sale of competitive assets in the combined portfolios of drugmakers, which would lead to a certain market monopoly.The merger shows mylan has a portfolio of more than 7,500 products, including biosimilars, generics, branded drugs and over-the-counter drugs, in key therapeutic areas such as the central nervous system, anesthesia, infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease. At the same time to provide raw materials, and has manufacturing and supply chain advantages. Upjohn has a range of iconic branded drugs for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, pain, nerves, mental illness, urology, ophthalmology, etc., such as Lipto, Celexio and Van Eyre, and has strong commercial capabilities. It can be seen that the products and business capabilities of the two companies are not only complementary, but there are indeed competing overlapping markets.The original integration plan was in order and was initially ready. In late February, the two companies also announced the appointment of senior executives in the combined company Viatris, including a current Pfizer board member and eight current Mylan directors, of whom Mylan's current president will serve as Viatris president.However, Mylan and Pfizer announced on March 26 that they were postponing the merger because of delays in the regulatory review process caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mylan said recently that it expects the merger to be completed in the second half of 2020 and that the terms of the deal will not change.Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice warned that drugmakers could extend the deadline for merger reviews if they fail to ensure that employees are working properly and provide adequate documentation for review.Indeed, in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, Mylan-Upjohn trading delays are no exception. AbbVie's deal with AerGem, which finalized the final deal in June 2019, has also been delayed.At the time, the companies announced that the $63 billion acquisition was expected to be completed by early 2020. In March, the European Commission approved the divestiture of the GI drug brazikumab by two companies, with AstraZenecon as the buyer. Previously, Elkjian also sold two pancreatic replacement enzyme products, Zenpep and Viokace, to Nestle. The divestiture of three drugs has paved the way for final approval. At the same time, the two companies have previously reached a "time agreement" with the FTC, indicating that it is likely that the FTC will make a merger review decision in early february 2020, in April this year.But as U.S. regulation slows, quick approvals may take longer than expected. It also proved that AbbVie, in a subsequent statement, postponed the expected completion of the merger until May. In addition to the European Commission and the U.S. FTC, the deal needs to be approved by the High Court of Ireland, which is headquartered in Ireland.Although AbbVie hopes to complete the merger within two months, an FTC spokesman said on March 25th that, as things stand, the FTC was likely to consider postponing the final review indefinitely and possibly the legal deadline for a major merger.An FTC spokesman noted that the agency's staff was fully operational, but that due to current limitations and time constraints, the Committee would not sacrifice the scope and thoroughness of the investigation, and that the review decision would be delayed.The U.S. Department of Justice is also considering postponing a review of the Abervi and Ayrshire mergers and conducting a criminal investigation, Bloomberg reported, without specifying why. The deal is likely to make AbbVie the world's fourth-largest drugmaker by introducing drugs such as Botox, the "heavy bomb", and the fast-growing antipsychotic drug Vraylar, as well as AbbVie's own potential heavy-bomb products. (
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