The plain language of the 340B statute “explicitly requires drug manufacturers to offer 340B discounts to 340B covered entities regardless of whether the drugs are dispensed by the entity or by an outside pharmacy with which the entity has a contract,” six hospital groups told a federal district judge on Tuesday. The groups did so in a friend of the court brief filed in drug maker AstraZeneca’s lawsuit against the government over 340B contract pharmacy requirements.
Also on Tuesday, lawyers for U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark either to dismiss AstraZeneca’s suit against HHS or to rule summarily in Becerra’s favor. AstraZeneca wants the court to strike down HHS’s December legal advisory opinion that manufacturers that have signed a 340B pharmaceutical pricing agreement must offer outpatient drugs at or below 340B ceiling price to covered entities without regard to how those drugs are dispensed. AstraZeneca, and three other drug companies in separate lawsuits, argue that contract pharmacies are not covered entities under the 340B statute and thus are not entitled to 340B pricing.
The plain language of the 340B statute “explicitly requires drug manufacturers to offer 340B discounts to 340B covered entities regardless of whether the drugs are dispensed by the entity or by an outside pharmacy with which the entity has a contract,” six hospital groups told a federal district judge on Tuesday. The groups did so in a friend of the court brief filed in drug maker AstraZeneca’s lawsuit against the government over 340B contract pharmacy requirements.
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