The pending $25 billion merger of medical device maker St. Jude Medical Inc. in St. Paul, Minn., and Abbott Laboratories in Lake Bluff, Ill., could affect the companies’ Orange County operations.
The Federal Trade Commission last week said it will require each of the companies to sell a cardiac-related product line—worth a combined $1.12 billion—to Terumo Corporation in Tokyo.
Otherwise the combination of Abbott and St. Jude would have “70% market share” of vascular closure devices and steerable sheaths used in heart surgery without the divestitures, the FTC said. “The merger would eliminate the substantial price competition that currently exists between these competitors.”
Abbott also must notify the FTC if it plans to acquire Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Inc. in Laguna Beach. Abbott in 2014 obtained the right to purchase the venture-backed company, which is developing treatments for irregular heartbeats and has raised about $18 million, according to recent reports.
The effects of the requirements on OC operations were still being determined.
St. Jude employs 500 locally out of 18,500 companywide. Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics employs an estimated 50 in OC. Abbott also owns Abbott Medical Optics, a Santa Ana-based unit that it plans to sell to Johnson & Johnson for about $4.3 billion.
