Pictured:Judicial gavel and scales of justice/Courtesy iStock
A federal judge in New Jersey on Monday ruled that the drug price negotiations outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act are constitutional，rejecting the arguments put forth byJohnson&Johnsonand，andBristol Myers Squibb，multiple news outlets reported late Monday。This is the latest decision in anongoing legal battlebetween Big Pharma and the government over the IRA—a battle that continues to go poorly for the biopharma industry。
Judge Zahid Quraishi of the District of New Jersey issued summary judgment against J&J’s Janssen and BMS，dismissing their claim that the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program was an unconstitutional taking of their assets。
“In short，Defendants are not taking drugs from Plaintiffs，”Quraishi wrote in his26-page ruling，according to multiple news outlets。“Selling to Medicare may be less profitable than it was before the institution of the Program，but that does not make Defendants’decision to participate any less voluntary。”
BMS has already appealed the ruling to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals，Endpoints Newsreported
This move was predicted by John Bennett，a Boston-based litigator at Allen&Overy who works with biopharma clients。“All of these cases ultimately have the potential to be appealed，and no doubt will be appealed，”BennetttoldBioSpaceearlier this year.“I think all of them in one shape or form have the possibility at least of potentially becoming precedent and potentially being argued at the Supreme Court.”
快速通道上的降落伞Novartis and Novo Nordisk that were炉膛内加热with BMS and J&J’s cases。热负荷回填水Novartis and Novo’s argumentsduring that hearing，which took place March7。
在February，a federal judge in Texasdismissedthe lawsuit from the group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America（PhRMA）on the grounds of wrong venue。However，PhRMA and two allies this week announced that they would appeal the ruling to the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit，Bloomberg Lawreported。
Last month，a federal judge in DelawareruledagainstAstraZeneca，saying that the Medicare program did not deny the company its right to sell its product。That judgment was in line with another federal court’s本injunction against the IRA programsought by the Dayton（Ohio）Chamber of Commerce last fall。On Monday，AstraZeneca filed an appeal with the Third Circuit。
In October 2023，a courtdeniedthe U.S.Chamber of Commerce’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the program，pointing out that the plaintiffs neither had a strong chance of succeeding nor evidence of irreparable harm。
Neil Versel is the business editor atBioSpace.You can reach him atneil.versel@biospace.com.Follow him onLinkedIn或，或X。
Edit's note:This story has been updated with information about AstraZeneca's appeal。
