German antitrust regulators have approved the takeover of German biotech company Morphosys by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
Germany's Federal Cartel Office announced its approval of the transaction on Tuesday. Morphosys, which is headquartered near Munich, manufactures drugs to treat the blood cancers leukaemia.
Andreas Mundt, who heads the regulatory agency, said officials had examined very carefully whether the merger would affect competition in the research and development of new drugs to treat leukaemia.
Mundt said the agency's review found "no serious competition concerns."
Many alternative active ingredients are being developed and competition from generics is also expected, he added.
Novarits is expected to pay €2.7 billion ($3 billion) for Morphosys, which went public in 2018 and employed 544 people as of last autumn.
