FTC pushes back against court’s antitrust standard in J&J biosimilar case

The Federal Trade Commission is signaling how it believes antitrust law should apply to patent acquisitions by dominant drug companies, arguing that competitive effect, not a company's intentions or knowledge, determines whether an acquisition violates antitrust law.

The FTC made that argument in an amicus brief filed Monday in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, contending that a district court applied an incorrect legal standard when it dismissed an antitrust claim against Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) over its use of patents to delay biosimilar competition to Stelara ustekinumab...