Merck acquisition would put emboldened regulators to the test

For the participants of the two-day regulatory workshop on strengthening antitrust enforcement in the pharmaceutical industry, the message could not have been clearer: the times when mega-mergers could sail through without much scrutiny are over.

Then, almost as if presenting a test case to antitrust officials, the Wall Street Journal reported on this New Jersey-based firm two days later note & Co. planned to purchase Seattle Area-Biotech blessings which is now worth just over $30 billion. The report noted that there may be other interested parties and that a deal could be difficult to push through “given the increased risk of a regulatory challenge.”