Boehringer Ingelheim Plans to Enter Medicare Drug Price Talks

Drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. is preparing to negotiate with Medicare on a price for its diabetes drug Jardiance, the company told Bloomberg Law Wednesday.

“We are committed to engaging in open and transparent conversations” with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Boehringer Ingelheim wrote in an emailed statement. “We look forward to sharing detailed information with CMS on the value of Jardiance and to reinforce the need to invest in scientific medical innovation for the patients we serve.”

The Germany-based manufacturer, which shares Jardiance with Eli Lilly & Co., joins Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and AstraZeneca Plc as companies that have publicly committed to entering the first round of Medicare price talks put in place by the Inflation Reduction Act.

A Bristol-Myers Squibb spokesperson confirmed the company’s plans to negotiate, writing in an email to Bloomberg Law that the company has “no choice other than to sign the ‘agreement.’” AstraZeneca confirmed to Politico and Endpoints News it will be complying with negotiations.

Under the IRA, companies that refuse to comply risk facing an excise tax starting at 65% of the US sales of a product, with fines increasing by 10% every quarter, with a maximum of 95%.

Each of the three companies is individually suing the Biden administration over the drug price negotiation plans, arguing they unconstitutionally force drugmakers to lower prices for their products. This process, the pharmaceutical industry argues, will hurt innovation and limit patient access to new medicines.

Manufacturers behind the first 10 drugs selected to face lower negotiated prices starting in 2026 have until Oct. 1 to enter official agreements with the Medicare program. By the following day, companies must submit manufacturer-specific data to the CMS to help the agency make an initial offer on a product’s maximum fair price.

If drugmakers don’t want to negotiate or face the IRA’s financial penalty, they must allow “bona fide” competition from a generic or biosimilar product, thus exempting the drugmaker from the program, according to CMS guidance.

The other option is to withdraw all their products from Medicare and other federal health programs. This means a drugmaker would not only lose access to the more than 65 million Americans covered by Medicare, but also the roughly 87 million enrolled in Medicaid.

Other companies have been slow to publicly commit to the negotiations. The first 10 list included three versions each of NovoLog and Fiasp, insulin products made by Novo Nordisk A/S, which wouldn’t comment on whether it plans to comply with negotiations or file a lawsuit against the program.

“We will explore all options that allow us to drive change for people that need it and strive to continue to bring innovative medicines to the market while helping increase access for those that need them,” Novo Nordisk did say in an emailed statement Tuesday.