AstraZeneca announced on Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to prohibit portions of a program that gives Medicare the ability to negotiate reduced drug prices.
The British pharmaceutical company, which filed its complaint in a Delaware district court, joins other pharmaceutical companies and business groups in asserting that the program would impede the development of new medications.
The program faces at least seven additional court challenges, including those from the prominent industry group PhRMA and drugmakers Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
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AstraZeneca Sues Over Drug Price Negotiation Program Under Inflation Reduction Act
The drug price negotiation program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by President Joe Biden.
According to AstraZeneca, the lawsuit was filed to “protect timely access to medicines for orphan indications” in the United States.
The U.S. government provides numerous incentives for the development of treatments that target orphan indications or rare conditions.
AstraZeneca stated that the program would discourage the development of orphan drugs for multiple conditions, such as its cancer drug Lynparza and uncommon blood disorder drug Soliris.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers the Medicare program for Americans aged 65 and older, is scheduled to begin negotiations next month over 10 high-priced pharmaceuticals, which will be selected by the agency barring court intervention.
In a statement, an HHS spokesperson said that the agency “will vigorously defend the President’s drug price negotiation law, which is already lowering healthcare costs for seniors and people with disabilities.”
In 2026, the negotiated prices would become effective.
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Source: MSN
