US judge allows FTC to temporarily block IQVIA acquisition of DeepIntent

A U.S. court on Friday upheld a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order to block IQVIA’s acquisition of DeepIntent, a healthcare advertising firm, as it may harm competition. DeepIntent, owned by Propel Media, a digital media and advertising company, entered into an agreement with U.S. headquartered IQVIA in 2022 with the intent to facilitate seamless communication between patients and healthcare providers. Earlier this year, the FTC intervened to block IQVIA and DeepIntent's proposed merger so as to prevent increased concentration in health care programmatic advertising.