Surprise: AstraZeneca's $39B Alexion buy clears a newly vigilant FTC without a hitch

Just as pharma watchers were bracing themselves for the brunt of renewed antitrust scrutiny around large biopharma transactions, AstraZeneca’s mega-acquisition of Alexion Pharma sailed through the much-dreaded review unscathed.

In an anticlimactic announcement Friday, AZ said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared the $39 billion deal first unveiled in December.