SDI Acquisition Requires Sell-Offs, Says FTC

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission says the parent company of IMS Health must sell two product lines if it is to proceed with its acquisition of rival data provider SDI.

IMS parent Healthcare Technology Holdings, Inc. has agreed to sell two parts of the SDI Health business - its promotional audit and medical audit businesses - to an FTC-approved buyer.

Promotional audits estimate advertising and other promotional activities for branded drugs, helping pharma firms to set their marketing budgets. The FTC says there are only three current players in this market in the US - SDI with 68%, IMS with 30% and Cegedim S.A. with just 2%.

Medical audits plot diagnoses made and therapies prescribed by physicians, helping clients to assess drug prescription and treatment trends, and the Commission says this is even more concentrated, with only Danbury, CT-based IMS (53%) and Plymouth Meeting, PA-based SDI (47%) competing at present.

Without the disposals, the FTC says the buy would be anticompetitive and likely to increase prices for market research products in the health care industry.

The FTC's settlement requires Healthcare Technology to sell all of the overlapping SDI businesses within three months of the completion of the deal, or accept the appointment by the FTC of a trustee to sell them. In the meantime, IMS must hold the relevant SDI assets separate and apart from its other businesses and ensure they remain competitive pending their sale.

Web site for the firms are at www.imshealth.com and www.sdihealth.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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