ANALYSIS: FTC Pharma Settlement Furthers Drug Pricing Priorities

The Federal Trade Commission announced in the beginning of February a proposed settlement with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, requiring the PBM to “adopt fundamental changes to its business practices.”

The settlement came over a year after the FTC filed a lawsuit against Express Scripts and two other PBMs—CVS Caremark and Optum Rx—for alleged anticompetitive rebating practices around insulin.

Some of the changes proposed such as rebate reform and better offerings to small pharmacies weren’t surprising. Indeed, I predicted them after the FTC filed the administrative complaint in 2024.

One settlement stipulation, however, has created an unexpected ...