Boehringer Ingelheim Joins Legal Fray Over Biden Drug Price Law

Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered the growing field of litigants seeking to topple the Medicare agency’s drug price negotiation plans, with just days to go until the Biden administration announces the first drugs subject to the program.

• The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut, is the seventh challenging the program put in place by the Inflation Reduction Act.
• The Germany-based manufacturer produces the type 2 diabetes treatment Jardiance, which Boehringer shares with Eli Lilly & Co. Analysts have predicted this product will be among the first 10 for which drugmakers will have to negotiate lower prices with the federal government.
• Boehringer Ingelheim argues the price negotiation plans violate the First, Fifth, and Eighth amendments.
• Companies like Merck & Co. and Astellas Pharma Inc. also have filed lawsuits against the program. The US Chamber of Commerce has asked a court to put a pause on the negotiations.

The case is Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. HHS, D. Conn., No. 3:23-cv-01103, complaint filed 8/18/23.