Can states compel prescription drug manufacturers to deliver steeply discounted medicines to unlimited numbers of pharmacies? That is the issue that has been kicking around federal courts for a few years now, and the Fourth Circuit has now weighed in by answering “no.”
We are talking here about drugs purchased under the federal government’s 340B
We recently attended the ACI Drug & Medical Device Seminar in New York, where we always enjoy catching up with old friends, making new acquaintances, and hearing what’s new in our drug and device sandbox. This year we spoke on the extensive and active litigation that is currently going on over the 340B drug pricing
We reported two years ago on a Third Circuit opinion holding that the federal government did not have the authority to require drug manufacturers to deliver 340B-discounted drugs to an unlimited number of pharmacies. The D.C. Circuit came to the same conclusion a year later. See Sanofi Aventis U.S. LLC v. HHS, 58 F.4th
The federal government cannot compel pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell prescription drugs at a discount to unlimited numbers of pharmacies. That is the takeaway from the Third Circuit’s recent opinion in Sanofi Aventis U.S. LLC v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, No. 21-3167, 2023 WL 1098017 (3d. Cir. Jan. 30, 2023) (to