The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday that German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to divest five types of animal health products to settle FTC charges that a proposed asset swap with Sanofi would harm competition.

The proposed asset swap involved Boehringer Ingelheim's acquisition of Sanofi's $13.5 billion animal care subsidiary and Sanofi's obtaining the Germany company's consumer health care business unit, valued at nearly $8 billion, the FTC said.

The FTC said in a statement that without the divestitures, the proposed swap "would harm competition in the U.S. markets for various vaccines for companion animals (pets) and certain parasite control products for cattle and sheep."