Clifford Chance

FTC v. Lundbeck: Alternative Drugs Used To Treat Same Condition Not Necessarily In Same Antitrust Relevant Product Market

26 August 2011

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed a lower court decision finding that two drugs were not necessarily in the same relevant product market for antitrust purposes, even though the drugs were two alternatives used to treat the same condition. The Eighth Circuit decision was rendered in an appeal brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from an August 2010 decision of the Minnesota Federal District Court rejecting an FTC challenge to the acquisition by Lundbeck, Inc. (formerly Ovation Pharmaceutical) of NeoProfen from Abbott Laboratories Inc.

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