Harvard researchers call on Congress to clean up pharma companies' mess of restrictions on contract pharmacies under 340B
Zachary Brennan
Senior Editor, Endpoints
The explosion of pharma companies restricting sales to certain contract pharmacies under a subsidized drug program for low-income Americans, along with a mix of court opinions so far on whether such restrictions should be allowed, means that Congress needs to act on this federal program, according to a recently published JAMA Viewpoint from researchers at Harvard Medical School.
The viewpoint, while noting that these contract pharmacy restrictions (from 16 biopharma companies and counting) are “the latest problem with implementation of the 340B program,” calls on Congress to take two legislative steps to help remedy the ballooning 340B market, which according to IQVIA, is now about 15% of all pharma sales in the US.
“First, Congress could explicitly allow the participation of contract pharmacies in the 340B program given their importance in securing revenue for 340B centers and ensuring patient access to low-cost drugs,” Harvard’s Ryan Knox, Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron Kesselheim wrote, adding:
To prevent contract pharmacies from obtaining revenue not intended for uncompensated care, Congress could set additional requirements for eligibility, for example, ensuring contract
