As part of efforts to implement President Trump's Executive Order No. 14273, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Commerce will jointly host three listening sessions. These sessions aim to discuss strategies for making prescription drugs more affordable by promoting competition.
The sessions will focus on increasing generic and biosimilar availability and promoting competition through drug formularies and benefits. Practitioners and scholars will address anticompetitive practices and suggest ways to eliminate regulatory barriers. The insights gathered will contribute to a joint report on combating anticompetitive practices in pharmaceutical markets, as mandated by President Trump's Executive Order.
Attendance is by invitation only, but members of the public can submit questions online or access a livestream. Videos and transcripts will be available after each session.
The first session is scheduled for Monday, June 30 at 2 pm ET. It will cover "Anticompetitive Conduct by Pharmaceutical Companies Impeding Generic or Biosimilar Competition." Two panels will discuss strategies used by manufacturers to delay or exclude competition from lower-priced alternatives, including trends in pharmaceutical patent settlements, pay-for-delay agreements, exclusive API supply agreements, product hopping, rebating strategies, price-fixing, and collusion.
The second session is set for Thursday, July 24 at 2 pm ET under the theme "Formulary and Benefit Practices and Regulatory Abuse Impacting Drug Competition." Panels will explore business relationships between drug manufacturers and PBMs that may impact competition leading to higher costs. Topics include vertical integration impacts on cost reduction incentives, formulary design practices, private label biosimilars, Medicare policies, interchangeability issues with biosimilars, improper Orange Book listings or sham petitioning to FDA misuse of REMS process safety concerns regarding generics/biosimilars hindering uptake.
The final session on Monday August 4 at 2 pm ET titled "Turning Insights into Action to Reduce Drug Prices" aims at summarizing impactful discussions from previous sessions while exploring additional strategies for reducing drug pricing in America.
