Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Feb 5, 2016)

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:

ACQUISITIONS & MERGER NEWS: The 2016 pre-merger notification threshold in Canada will increase to $87 million, the Competition Bureau has announced. The threshold was previously $86 million in 2015. Once in effect, companies must generally give the Competition Bureau advance notice of proposed transactions when the target’s assets in Canada or revenues from sales in or from Canada generated from those assets exceed $87 million, and when the combined Canadian assets or revenues of the parties and their respective affiliates in, from or into Canada exceed $400 million. The Competition Bureau announced that the threshold will become effective immediately after the publication of the threshold in the Canada Gazette Part 1 on February 6, 2016.

ANTITRUST NEWS: U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) sent a letter to President Barrack Obama, urging the President to propose policies to help reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Americans and include measures to promote value. In particular, Sen. Franken requests that President Obama once again advance initiatives to prohibit pay-for-delay arrangements, in which brand drug manufacturers pay generic drug companies to delay the entrance of generic competitors in the market. Additionally, Sen. Franken urges that the President include policies in the 2017 Fiscal Budget to promote competition in the generic market, improve market transparency, and prevent companies from gouging prices on essential medicines.

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust