Medicare on Tuesday announced the first 10 drugs selected for price negotiations, launching a historic and highly contentious process with big implications for pharmaceutical companies, taxpayers and patients. The selected drugs are the Bristol Myers Squibb Co. BMY, -0.71% blood thinner Eliquis, Boehringer Ingelheim’s heart failure drug Jardiance, Johnson and Johnson JNJ, -1.18% blood thinner Xarelto, Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, -1.16% diabetes drug Januvia, AstraZeneca AZN, +0.57% heart failure drug Farxiga, Novartis AG NVS, +0.55% heart failure drug Entresto, Amgen Inc. AMGN, +0.07% rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, AbbVie Inc. ABBV, +0.50% blood cancer drug Imbruvica, Johnson and Johnson psoriasis treatment Stelara, and Novo Nordisk NVO, +0.57% insulin Fiasp. The manufacturers of the selected drugs have until Oct. 1 to sign agreements to participate in the program. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to hold an event later Tuesday heralding the negotiation program, which is required under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act and is the subject of at least eight lawsuits filed by drugmakers and industry groups. The federal government is expected to save nearly $100 billion over 10 years through the negotiation program, which will broaden to include additional drugs in future years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s helping to pay for an overhaul of the Medicare prescription-drug benefit that will slash costs at the pharmacy counter for many enrollees, policy experts say.
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