Korean pharmaceutical company Boryung will be able to acquire the breast cancer treatment "Taxotere" business from French drugmaker Sanofi only if it sells its generic cancer drug "Detaxel" business.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced Thursday that it conditionally approved Boryung's business combination to acquire the Taxotere cancer drug business from Sanofi. The condition for approval is the sale of the Detaxel generic cancer drug business held by Boryung. This marks the first time the FTC has ordered an asset sale to approve a domestic company's overseas merger and acquisition (M&A).
Accordingly, Boryung must transfer Detaxel-related assets to a third pharmaceutical company within 12 months. Until the sale is completed, the company cannot halt production or supply, or induce existing clients to switch to Taxotere. Even after the sale, it must provide product supply and technical support for a certain period if requested by the acquiring company.
What the FTC took issue with was the structure of the domestic docetaxel-based cancer drug market. As of last year, Taxotere held a market share of 64.7% and Detaxel 13.8%, ranking first and second, respectively. Once the business combination is completed, the share will rise to as much as 78.5%. The FTC determined that if Boryung holds both Taxotere and its existing product Detaxel simultaneously, its market dominance could grow excessively. According to the FTC, after the business combination, the price of docetaxel is estimated to rise by 4.6% to 9.3%, and consumer benefits are projected to decrease by up to 7.78 billion won annually.
In addition, the FTC judged that Boryung's plan to wind down its existing Detaxel business as it begins producing Taxotere directly was a competition-restricting factor. The concern is that the product that has most strongly checked the original drug Taxotere in the domestic market could disappear. Earlier, Boryung had engaged in differentiation competition by launching Korea's only alcohol-free docetaxel product in 2023. The FTC also saw the possibility that such quality competition could weaken after this combination.
Boryung said it will faithfully implement the FTC's corrective order. "We submitted a plan to return Detaxel's product license once Taxotere's domestic approval is completed, but the FTC determined that a sale of Detaxel was necessary out of concern over a drug supply gap," a Boryung official said. "We will faithfully implement the FTC's measures to ensure continuity of treatment for patients and stable supply."
