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NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. and DUBLIN—AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) announced earlier this week that they have entered into a consent decree agreement with staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding AbbVie's pending acquisition of Allergan. Under the terms of the consent decree, the companies have agreed to divest brazikumab, an investigational IL-23 inhibitor in development for autoimmune diseases, to AstraZeneca and Zenpep, a treatment for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency due to cystic fibrosis and other conditions, to Nestle. Nestle also will be acquiring Viokace, another pancreatic enzyme preparation, as part of the same transaction, according to the announcement.

In June 2019, AbbVie and Allergan entered into a definitive transaction agreement under which AbbVie would acquire Allergan in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $63 billion, based on the closing price of AbbVie's common stock at the time, as VMAIL reported. The deal, including assumption of debt, is valued overall at about $80 billion, according to news reports.

The FTC consent decree, including the proposed purchasers, remains subject to further review and approval by the commissioners of the FTC. The parties anticipate closing their proposed transaction in May, the announcement stated.