Drug Price-Sharing Strategy Imperiled by Ohio Antitrust Suit (1)

Ohio’s antitrust lawsuit against Express Scripts Inc., Humana Pharmacy Solutions and other companies opens a potentially effective legal front against the embattled pharmacy benefit manager industry.

The complaint by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) appears to be the first state attempt to target group purchasing organizations, also known as “rebate aggregators,” drug pricing researchers and independent pharmacy spokespeople said.

The PBMs began using group organizations amid scrutiny over insulin pricing on Capitol Hill and administrative action targeted at the rebates drug manufacturers pay to PBMs. Now, that strategy is under attack as well.

Group purchasing organizations “provided PBMs ...