Pharma Faces Supreme Court Deadline as IRA Price Negotiation Takes Effect

Pharmaceutical companies face an imminent deadline to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) Medicare drug price negotiation program, with price controls for the first group of drugs—such as AstraZeneca’s Farxiga—set to take effect January 20261 4 10.

AstraZeneca has filed a petition with the Supreme Court alleging that the IRA violates due process by allowing government-set drug prices without adequate procedural safeguards or compensation, and seeks intervention before the new prices become effective1 4 6 12.

Multiple pharma companies, including Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson, have lost earlier legal challenges in lower courts, but AstraZeneca and others argue that constitutional issues—especially the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause and due process rights—merit high court review2 3 4.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether to hear AstraZeneca's case; if accepted, a decision could arrive as early as June 2026; meanwhile, additional challenges are pending, particularly in the Fifth Circuit, which may provide a more favorable environment for pharma’s arguments2 3 16.

The stakes are significant:
Pharma's remaining claims target key constitutional protections and, if successful, could impede or reshape the IRA's drug negotiation mechanism, affecting billions in sales and millions of Medicare beneficiaries1 2 4 6.