Case Summary
Akorn, Inc. has agreed to sell its rights to develop, manufacture, and market the generic injectable tuberculosis drug, rifampin, in order to settle FTC charges that Akorn’s proposed acquisition of VersaPharm Inc. and its parent company, VPI Holdings Corp., would likely be anticompetitive. According to the FTC’s complaint, only VersaPharm and two other firms currently have FDA approval to sell generic injectable rifampin and there are no viable substitutes for rifampin as a course of treatment for tuberculosis. The FTC’s proposed settlement with Akorn requires the company to divest its Abbreviated New Drug Application for generic injectable rifampin – which is currently pending before the Food and Drug Administration – to Watson Laboratories, Inc.