FTC Challenges Thoratec-HeartWare International Merger

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday said it's challenging Thoratec Corp.'s (THOR) $282 million acquisition of medical-device maker HeartWare International Inc. (HWTR).

The FTC said in a statement Thoratec's takeover of HeartWare would further the company's monopoly in the market for left ventrical devices, surgically implanted blood pumps that support and sustain patients suffering from end-stage heart failure.

Shares of Thoratec were up 2.4% Thursday morning at $25.31. HeartWare shares were down nearly 11% at $20.50.

Thoratec, of Pleasanton, Calif., is the only company that currently has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell left ventrical devices.

Framingham, Mass.-based HeartWare is one of the few other makers of these devices. One of its left ventrical devices is being tested in clinical trials, and is positioned to be the next device approved by the FDA, a key step before a device can be sold on the market.

The FTC alleges Thoratec is willfully attempting to monopolize and conspiring to maintain its monopoly in the market for left ventrical devices and "thereby denying patients the potentially life-saving benefits of competition between Thoratec and HeartWare," according to the FTC's statement.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9207; jared.favole@dowjones.com

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