WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the verge of the announcement of the next 15 drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiations, Teva Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the program. The lawsuit was filed as Teva expects its drugs Austedo and Austedo XR, used to treat movement disorders, will be selected for the second round of negotiations.
This lawsuit is part of a coordinated effort by several big drug companies to overturn Medicare’s negotiating power established under the historic 2022 prescription drug law. Teva Pharmaceuticals – like the seven other drug companies that have already filed lawsuits to undermine drug price negotiations – is fighting to protect windfall profits from Austedo and Austedo XR at the expense of patients who pay up to $14,642 for a one-month supply of these drugs. Teva’s lawsuit hinges on the claim that two of its drugs with the exact same active ingredient should not both be subject to Medicare drug price negotiations at the same time.
Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs, issued the following statement:
“Teva’s new lawsuit marks the 10th attempt from Big Pharma and its allies to block Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices for patients. These corporations are determined to restore their unfettered power to dictate prices to the people in America–the only nation on the planet that didn’t negotiate over prices of prescription drugs until the passage of the new drug price law in 2022. In just three months, the drug at the center of Teva’s lawsuit, Austedo, has generated a staggering $435 million in revenue at the expense of the patients who need it.
“While Courts have rejected Big Pharma’s weak arguments again and again, we are still preparing for even more of these attacks once the next 15 drugs to be negotiated are announced. Medicare negotiation is a critical step toward making essential medicines more affordable for millions of Americans. It’s US vs. Pharma and Patients For Affordable Drugs will continue to fight tirelessly—inside and outside the courtroom—to defend this historic program against the pharmaceutical industry’s multi-million dollar assault and to protect the will of the American people.”
BACKGROUND
- Teva Pharmaceuticals reported $435 million in revenue from Austedo in Q3 2024 – an increase of 28% compared to Q3 2023.
- In 2022, 15,889 patients on Medicare reported using Austedo or Austedo XR.
- Despite the $372 million lobbying campaign by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies to stop the historic 2022 prescription drug law, the reforms are already reining in prescription drug costs for millions of patients.
- To date, federal judges have rejected eight lawsuits filed by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies to block implementation of Medicare negotiation.
- P4AD has filed strategic amicus briefs in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in cases brought by pharmaceutical giants Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Janssen, and AstraZeneca, and in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals case brought by Novo Nordisk.
- P4AD has also signed onto seven amicus briefs led by Public Citizen and with allies Protect Our Care, Doctors for America, and Families USA.
- P4AD launched the US v Pharma campaign to mobilize patients and advocates to defend the hard-won victory of Medicare negotiation against Big Pharma’s multi-million dollar legal efforts to halt the program from delivering relief to patients.
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