Abbott Laboratories www.abbott.com and Alere Inc., www.alere.com have agreed to divest two Point-of-Care (POC) medical device products in order to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) www.ftc.gov charges that Abbott’s proposed $8.3 billion acquisition of Alere will cause harm to the competition.
Abbott is a global healthcare company producing point-of-care diagnostic devices designed for use at a patient’s bedside. Massachusetts-based Alere manufactures rapid diagnostic testing devices.
According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the proposed acquisition would result in market concentration and likely harm competition in the U.S for the sale of two types of devices. One device includes the point-of-care blood gas testing system which measure blood pH, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and electrolyte levels.
The other device is the point-of-care cardiac marker testing system which measures specific proteins in the blood to assess whether a patient is having a heart attack or experiencing congestive heart failure.
Under the terms of a proposed settlement with the FTC, the parties will divest the rights and assets, including all related intellectual property, manufacturing technology, and confidential business information.
Specifically Alere’s blood gas testing system will be divested to Siemens Aktiengelsellschaft www.siemens.com, a global medical device manufacturer. Alere’s cardiac market testing system will be divested to Quidel Corporation www.quidel.com a seller of POC testing products addressing infectious diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, and other general health POC testing.
The parties must also divest Alere’s two Ottawa, Canada facilities to Siemens, and Alere’s San Diego facility to Quidel. The settlement requires the parties to complete the divestitures to Siemens and Quidel within 30 days after the proposed acquisition is finalized.