UPDATED: STATEMENT ON BAYER AND EMD SERONO RESTRICTING 340B DISCOUNTS THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED PHARMACIES
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the drug companies Bayer and EMD Serono informed safety-net hospitals participating in the 340B drug pricing program that they will start restricting access to 340B discounts on drugs dispensed at community and specialty pharmacy partners. When the new policies take effect March 1, Bayer and EMD Serono will become the 20th and 21st companies to impose such unilateral restrictions on 340B pricing.
The following statement is attributed to 340B Health President and CEO Maureen Testoni:
“Bayer took in more than $28 billion in revenues in 2021 from its pharmaceutical products even after providing 340B discounts that are crucial to the health care safety net. EMD Serono is a subsidiary of Germany-based Merck KGaA, which took in more than $8 billion on its drugs that year. Now the companies are backing off their commitments by depriving 340B hospitals of resources they need to care for patients with low incomes and those living in rural areas. By following the lead of the other 19 companies with 340B pricing restrictions, Bayer and EMD Serono will add to the well-documented levels of harm that these actions are causing to patient access and health outcomes.”
The drugmakers with unlawful 340B pricing restrictions are AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bausch Health, Bayer, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Exelixis, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, UCB, and United Therapeutics.
Contact: David Glendinning at david.glendinning@340bhealth.org or 202-536-2289.