Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) recently sent a letter to Karen Lynch, the president and CEO of CVS, and Executive Vice President of CVS Health and President of CVS Caremark David Joyner to question CVS’s move to prefer a biosimilar co-manufactured by its subsidiary Cordavis instead of allowing customers to also access other low-cost biosimilars on the market. (If his name sounds familiar, it should. Last year, Lankford co-sponsored the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act.) Recently, Lankford co-signed a letter to the FTC urging its commissioners to complete an investigation they began more than 18 months ago about the anticompetitive practices of PBMs, as reported by qAM. In their letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Lankford, along with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and 10 other members of Congress, cited the advancement of the PBM Transparency Act and the Prescription Drug Pricing for the People Act as evidence of the momentum needed to tackle vertical integration, patient steering, and other PBM strategies to strangle the American health care industry (and independent pharmacies). “There is widespread bipartisan support for examining PBM practices to determine whether they are causing Americans to pay higher prices for prescription drugs,” wrote the senators. “A commitment to a timely study and interim progress report will provide transparency, insight about possible competitive harms, and inform the responsiveness and cooperation of impacted parties.” Pictured: Sen. Lankford (far right) visiting United Pharmacy in Yukon, Okla., on Aug. 29 as part of NCPA’s annual “Month of Action,” which connects pharmacies to their federal lawmakers each August.
NCPA
