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Consumer groups and unions express competition concerns to

FTC

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Deal could limit options for competitors developing GLP-1

drugs

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Concerns also raised about impact on gene therapy

manufacturing

By Jody Godoy, Maggie Fick

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Five U.S. consumer groups

and two large labor unions urged the U.S. Federal Trade

Commission on Thursday to block Novo Nordisk's

controlling shareholder from acquiring contract drug

manufacturer Catalent ( CTLT ), saying the deal threatens

competition in weight loss drugs and cutting-edge gene

therapies.

U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Service Employees

International Union (SEIU) and others expressed concerns in a

letter to the FTC about the $16.5 billion deal, which Novo

Holdings has said would boost supply of Wegovy, Novo's

blockbuster GLP-1 injectable weight loss drug.

The deal could constrain options for competitors such as

Amgen ( AMGN ), Pfizer ( PFE ), Roche, and AstraZeneca ( AZN )

, who are reportedly developing their own GLP-1 drugs,

the groups said.

""Because of the proposed acquisition, there is a real

question of whether these future rivals to Novo will be able to

secure the expertise to bring the product to market and have

available and qualified capacity to manufacture these products

when they commercially launch," the groups said.

Viking Therapeutics ( VKTX ), Structure Therapeutics ( GPCR )

and Sun Pharma also have GLP-1 drugs in development and

could be affected, the groups said.

According to the terms of the deal, Novo Holdings would sell

three of Catalent's ( CTLT ) factories, where injection pens are filled

in sterile conditions, in Italy, Belgium and the United States,

on to Novo Nordisk for $11 billion.

Novo Nordisk has said it is committed to honoring existing

contracts at the plants, and that it is not aware of any

competitive GLP-1 products being manufactured for commercial

sale at the three sites.

The groups, which included Consumer Action, Doctors for

America and the American Federation of State, County and

Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union, also expressed concern that

Novo Holding's ownership could affect Catalent's ( CTLT ) capacity to

manufacture gene therapies.

AFSCME represents around 1.6 million public sector workers,

and SEIU has around 2 million members who work in healthcare,

the public sector and property services.

"The competitive concerns here go far beyond existing drugs.

We believe the commission should look at the impact on future

therapies including gene therapy," said David Balto, the

antitrust lawyer who represents the groups and drafted the

letter.

The letter mentioned Catalent's ( CTLT ) contracts with Sarepta

Therapeutics ( SRPT ), to produce its gene therapy Elevidys, and

with Novartis, to produce its gene therapy Zolgensma.

The Catalent ( CTLT ) facilities producing these therapies are separate

from the three factories that Novo Holdings plans to sell on to

Novo Nordisk.