FTC sues to block private equity firm’s deal to buy medical device coatings maker Surmodics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued on Thursday to block medical device coatings maker Surmodics’ acquisition by private equity firm GTCR, with the regulatory agency alleging the deal was anticompetitive.

The FTC said the deal would create a combined company controlling more than 50% of the market for outsourced hydrophilic coatings.

“These coatings are often used by medical device manufacturers and are applied to lifesaving medical devices such as catheters and guidewires,” the regulatory agency said in a statement.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington)