Taking the Pulse: A Health Care & Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 239: Understanding the 340B Pricing Program with Chuck Melendi of Disruptive Dialogue
Understanding Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The PBM Landscape Explained
EpiPen RICO Ruling Opens Door for Private AKS Enforcement
Part Two: The MFN Drug Pricing Rule and the Rebate Rule: Where Do We Go From Here?
Part One: Two new Medicare Drug Pricing Rules in One Day: What are the MFN and the Rebate Drug Pricing Rules?
Drug Pricing Initiatives During the Trump Presidency
While M&A activity has slowed in the tail end of the first quarter of 2025, including in healthcare, there have been several noteworthy developments in the antitrust space in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. ...more
The pharmaceutical industry is a critical component of the global economy, impacting public health, national security, and economic stability. Recent developments—including investigations into the national security...more
The healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market began 2025 with a slower start than expected given the easing headwinds and building momentum at the end of last year, with the number of deals reported in Q1 lower than...more
On January 8, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy signed into law “An Act Relative To Pharmaceutical Access, Costs And Transparency.” The Act will have a profound impact on all parties involved in setting and applying drug...more
The last year (and particularly the last few months) of the Biden Administration brought a flurry of activity from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the life sciences space, continuing a yearslong pattern of close...more
In the days leading up to President Trump’s inauguration, the Biden FTC rushed to initiate major lawsuits and to tie a bow on various antitrust policy efforts. In a series of dissenting statements, the minority Republican...more
The year was packed with developments for health and welfare benefits plans. Our Health Benefits Team reviews 2024, from new data privacy rules to disaster tax relief....more
Following a hotly contested election, Donald Trump is once again the president-elect and will return to the White House on January 20, 2025. He will do so with a dominant electoral college win, potentially a win of the...more
The Biden administration’s antitrust scrutiny of the life sciences industry continued this week as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint against the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers...more
To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
At an Open Commission Meeting on August 1, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) presented a report prepared by its staff entitled Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs and Squeezing Main...more
It has been a busy year for issues related to drug pricing, and with the election around the corner, litigation issues that have been developing over the last few years are likely to be a key focus for the second half of...more
Exactly two weeks after issuing an interim staff report on Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers (PBMs) pursuant to its Section 6(b) authority to study markets, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated another 6(b) study...more
Earlier this year, a Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) employee brought a class action complaint (the “Complaint”) against J&J alleging fiduciary breaches under ERISA related to the prescription drug coverage under J&J’s self-funded...more
On February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare, a platform that provides certain technology solutions for the health care industry, experienced a nationwide network interruption related to a cybersecurity issue (cyber incident) and...more
After steadying during Q2, it appears the overall volume of deals in the healthcare industry declined in Q3 compared with Q2, and year-to-date 2023 is still down from last year. A slumping economy has no doubt played a large...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more
Our prior updates covered how FTC enforcement activity largely proceeded “as usual” during 2022 in the life sciences industry, with large pharmaceutical players buying or licensing promising, but still risky, assets from...more
Both the House and Senate are considering multiple bipartisan bills concerning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), meaning action is likely this year. However, the timeline and path forward remain unclear, since the two bodies...more
The dust from the 2022 Midterm Elections has settled and the 118th Congress has begun. Republicans were successfully able to flip control of the House and now have a 222-212 majority with one vacancy to be filled. Democratic...more
Introduction Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are the healthcare system players most patients have never heard of. Yet, PBMs represent a multibillion-dollar industry that touches the majority of Americans’ lives. Known as...more
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
During a much anticipated Open Commission Meeting announced by Commission Chair Lina M. Khan, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted in favor of issuing one new policy statement and one new report to Congress. First,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision clears the way for state regulation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (“PBMs”). Rutledge v. Pharm. Care Mgmt. Ass’n, 141 S. Ct. 474 (2020). At issue before the High Court was...more
On June 4 – 5, 2019, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held an extraordinary and unprecedented evidentiary hearing to decide whether to enter the proposed Final Judgment in U.S. v....more