Court Dismisses AbbVie Challenge to 340B Contract Pharmacy Protections

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed AbbVie’s lawsuit challenging SB 751, which enacted contract pharmacy protections for 340B covered entities. During oral argument on the state’s motion to dismiss, Judge Stephen Clark questioned AbbVie’s standing to bring the litigation and ordered the parties to provide supplemental briefing on the issue.

In his order dismissing the case, Judge Clark concluded that AbbVie’s grievance is with the replenishment model used by covered entities and contract pharmacies to provide discounted drugs to patients. The provisions of SB 751 do not address AbbVie’s issues with the replenishment model; therefore, they could not demonstrate an injury fairly traceable to the legislation.

Judge Clark granted AbbVie until Friday, July 25, to file for leave to amend its complaint.

Three cases challenging SB 751 remain. Novartis appealed the denial of its request for a preliminary injunction to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and filed its initial brief. The parties currently are engaged in discovery in the lawsuits brought by AstraZeneca and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association.