Incoming FTC Chair Endorses Agency Report Challenging PBM Generic Drug Markups

  • Jan 17, 2025

    The Federal Trade Commission’s second interim staff report on its ongoing investigation of potential pharmacy benefit manager misdeeds is a parting shot by outgoing FTC chair Lina Khan that also was endorsed by her designated successor, Andrew Ferguson.

    The Jan. 14 report highlights findings that the three leading PBMs, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum Rx, “marked up numerous specialty generic drugs dispensed at their affiliated pharmacies by thousands of percent” above estimated acquisition costs, and “many others by hundreds of percent.”

    Read more
    © 2024 MMIT
  • Cathy Kelly

    Cathy is a senior writer with Pink Sheet and has covered U.S. regulation and reimbursement policy for the biopharma industry since 2004, starting with the establishment of the Medicare Part D program. Since then, she has written extensively about developments in all major sectors of the U.S. insurance market (Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans). She has covered key legislation affecting biopharma, including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which created Part D, health care reform under President Obama, and the Inflation Reduction Act. She has closely followed the increasing influence of pharmacy benefit managers and their use of formulary negotiations and rebates to control pricing. Cathy also has covered developments in health technology assessments and has monitored industry progress on novel drug contracting that reflects value-based pricing.

The Latest
Meet Our Reporters

Meet Our Reporters

×