Sanofi, Novartis Split Courts on HHS Drug Discount Enforcement

Two federal courts handed down diverging rulings over the government’s ability to force pharmaceutical giants to resume previously-limited drug discounts, with one backing the HHS and the other saying it was out of line.

The rulings, in cases brought by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC and others, throw additional wedges into a swirl of litigation surrounding the 340B program, which assists low-income Americans by requiring drugmakers to offer products to certain health-care entities at discounted prices.

The Health and Human Services Department “lacks the authority” to force drugmakers to resume offering the discounts absent “a new statutory provision, ...