Drugmakers Defeat Health Agency in 340B Drug Discount Row (2)

Drugmakers that participate in the federal government’s Section 340B prescription drug program don’t have to supply discounted medications to an unlimited number of contract pharmacies, a federal appeals court said Monday.

“Legal duties do not spring from silence,” and Congress has never imposed on Section 340B-participating drugmakers a duty to supply contract pharmacies, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said.

The decision is a big win for Sanofi Aventis US LLC, Novo Nordisk Inc., and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, which declared in 2020 that they would limit supplies of discounted drugs to pharmacies that distribute ...