Antitrust legendarily unpredictable despite Epic

Bright lines. American trustbusters have a happy case of Mondays. United States Federal Tre Commission kicked off week yesterday by successfully killing drug giant Sanofi’s $750 million agreement to exclusively license a treatment for a rare genetic disease from Maze rapeutics. same day, a jury sided against Alphabet’s Google in a case that should offer competition cops some reassurance that ir arguments are taking root. silver lining for dealmakers is that, as success for a $43 billion deal by Pfizer on Tuesday shows, antitrust agencies aren’t omnipotent.

first blow to big companies came when a California jury sided with video-game maker Epic Games, which h launched a case against Google over its strict rules controlling downlo and payments systems of apps. Despite thus far fighting to a draw against Apple on similar charges, it won versus Sundar Pichai’s company on all counts.

re was a wild card. Unusually for antitrust cases, Epic’s included a jury trial. That naturally pushes litigators towards a more emotive, less legalese-burdened, approach. And Epic h an ace to play: allegations that Google h deleted internal messages is a decidedly b look for a skeptical panel of peers less steeped in particulars of legal precedent. That may loom large for technology giant in anor case brought by Department of Justice, which has also requested a jury trial. public consciousness has also now been seeded with idea that Big Tech can be defeated.

Of course, easiest victories come outside of court, and here FTC continues to make progress. Drugmaker Sanofi preemptively dropped its deal with Maze in face of resistance from agency led by Lina Khan. Again, a clampdown happened unusually. drug that Sanofi wanted is years from hitting market. Noneless, it’s a success in an area agencies have long prioritized, where potentially disruptive upstarts are acquired early to protect a monopoly.

Yet rainmakers can’t be blamed for feeling Terrific Tuesdays noneless. Pfizer’s $43 billion deal for Seagen has hung in limbo for eight months as investors feared an unpredictable FTC would sue no matter merits. That deal received clearance today is a relief for dealmakers searching for limits beyond which agencies won’t push. It wasn’t exactly amicable. Trustbusters issued a form letter warning that y could find deal unlawful down ro, according to a source familiar with situation. But, for now, it’s but a small reminder that even most aggressive consolidation fighters in a generation can’t stop everything.

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A jury in United States District Court for Norrn District of California on Dec. 11 unanimously sided with video-game maker Epic Games in its antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google. jury found that Google violated antitrust laws in markets for app distribution and billing on its Android operating system. United States Federal Tre Commission said on Dec. 11 that it moved to block pharmaceutical giant Sanofi from acquiring an exclusive license to develop a drug targeting a rare genetic disease, Pompe, from Maze rapeutics. Sanofi subsequently announced that it h terminated deal. following day, Dec. 12, pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that regulatory waiting period for its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen h expired without objection, meaning that it h now h all required clearances to close. company said that it h agreed to donate rights to royalties from sales of a cancer drug co-developed with Merck to charity in order “dress” FTC concerns.