(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, becoming the latest drugmaker seeking to block enforcement of a program that gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices.
The pharmaceutical industry says the drug price negotiation program that is part of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will curtail profits and compel them to pull back on developing groundbreaking new treatments.
U.S. drugmakers Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck & Co and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as industry lobbies Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have also sued the government over the plan.
Americans pay more for prescription medicines than any other country. The Biden administration hopes to save $25 billion annually by 2031 by having Medicare, the government health plan for people 65 and over, negotiate prices for some of its costliest medicines.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
