Novartis Loses Appeal to Halt Mississippi Drug Discount Law

Novartis AG failed to convince a federal appeals court that a Mississippi law requiring drug manufacturers to distribute discounted medicines to an unlimited number pharmacies should be blocked.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday upheld a lower court order that rejected Novartis’s bid for a preliminary injunction to halt Mississippi’s H.B.728, a law now in effect that prohibits any effort from drugmakers to deny, restrict, or prohibit drug discounts to pharmacies that contract with providers in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program.

The company argued the state law is preempted by federal law and ...