By Foo Yun Chee and Maggie Fick
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) -EU antitrust regulators will decide by Dec. 6 whether to clear Novo Holdings’ acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent, according to a filing on the European Commission website on Monday.
The controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk put in a request for EU approval for the deal on Oct. 31, the filing showed.
The EU antitrust regulators can either clear the deal with or without remedies or it can open a full-scale four-month long investigation if it has serious concerns.
The acquisition, announced in February, underscores Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s push to boost output of its popular obesity drug Wegovy.
Novo Holdings, Novo Nordisk and Catalent have all recently reiterated their expectations that the transaction will close towards the end of this year.
Pharmaceuticals giant Roche has called enforcers to veto the deal on concerns that it could hit competition in the booming weight-loss drug industry. Eli Lilly, Novo’s main rival in the obesity and diabetes drug market, has also expressed worries.
The deal has been criticised by U.S. consumer groups, who last month urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block it, saying it threatens competition in the booming weight-loss drug industry.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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