As the September 1, 2023 deadline for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish the first 10 “selected drugs” subject to negotiation of “maximum fair prices” under Medicare Parts B and D fast approaches, CMS has recently specified information that manufacturers must submit in order for their drugs to qualify for the “Small Biotech Exception” to being included on the list. The information is to be submitted during the summer of 2023; the specific deadline has not yet been announced.

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Among other provisions, the IRA provides for the CMS to negotiate “maximum fair prices” with manufacturers of “selected drugs” covered under Medicare Parts B and D. The price negotiation process begins on September 1, 2023, when CMS is required to publish the list of the first 10 selected drugs subject to negotiation, for maximum fair prices which will take effect beginning January 1, 2026.

The IRA provides that the selected drugs will be the 10 “negotiation-eligible drugs” having the highest total expenditures under Medicare Part D during the period June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2023. Negotiation-eligible drugs generally consist of “qualifying single-source drugs”, which are generally defined as branded drugs and biologicals approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at least 7 years (with respect to drugs) or 11 years (with respect to biologicals) before the date the list is published, and which do not have a marketed generic equivalent or biosimilar. However, for 2026 through 2028, the IRA provides that negotiation-eligible drugs exclude certain drugs under what CMS refers to as the “Small Biotech Exception”.Continue Reading CMS Specifies Info Needed for Small Biotech Exception to Medicare Drug Price Negotiation