U.S. Judge Blocks Colorado's Price Cap on Amgen Drug
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- A federal judge blocked Colorado's price cap on a blockbuster Amgen drug, ruling the company is "likely to be significantly harmed" — a victory for the pharmaceutical industry.
- The ruling pauses a first-in-the-nation move by the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which was created four years ago in response to rising prescription drug costs.
- Colorado's board is permitted to set upper payment limits on what most state residents pay for selected drugs deemed unaffordable.
- Colorado has been moving more quickly than other states in choosing medicines deemed unaffordable and proceeding with upper payment limit decisions.
- Several other states have established similar drug affordability boards, though all have somewhat different rules and criteria guiding their actions.
Why it matters: The ruling halts Colorado's first-in-the-nation attempt to impose a price cap through its four-year-old affordability board, handing Amgen a legal shield against a precedent-setting ceiling. Other states with similar boards now have a federal court signal that such caps can be blocked when companies show likely harm.
