US FTC sues to block private equity purchase of medical company

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued on Thursday to block medical device coatings maker Surmodics' acquisition by private equity firm GTCR, saying the deal would contribute to high healthcare costs.

The FTC said the deal would give the combined company more than 50% of the market for suppliers of hydrophilic coatings used to smooth surgical and internal medical devices such as catheters.

The competition between Surmodics and GTCR portfolio company Biocoat has driven innovation and lowered prices for the product, the FTC said.

Surmodics in a statement on Thursday disagreed with the FTC's decision. It said it would defend the case in court and that it remains committed to completing the merger.

GTCR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The merger is the first the FTC has sought to block under President Donald Trump's administration, which has said lowering consumer costs is a priority.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said on social media site X that the merger would have contributed to already high healthcare costs.

"The Trump-Vance FTC will work every day to protect competition in our healthcare markets, to drive down healthcare prices, and to improve the lives of all Americans," he said.

The Commission, which is currently split evenly between Republican and Democratic members, voted unanimously to block the merger.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington and Jody Godoy in New York; additional reporting by Janaki Venugopalan in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio and Christopher Cushing)

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