Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has approved a final order to settle anticompetitive charges related to Abbott Laboratories’ acquisition of St. Jude Medical, Inc.

In December the FTC alleged that the proposed acquisition would harm competition in the U.S. markets for vascular closure devices. The final order, approved in a 2-0 vote, requires  “the parties to divest to Tokyo-based medical device maker Terumo Corporation all rights and assets related to St. Jude’s vascular closure device business and Abbott’s steerable sheath business, and to help Terumo establish manufacturing capabilities for these products,” according to an FTC press release. Abbott must also tell the FTC if it plans to acquire the lesion-assessing ablation catheter assets from Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics (the two companies formed a partnership to develop these devices in the United States).

Medtech Powerhouse: Abbott to Acquire St. Jude for $25 Billion