HHS releases plan to import certain prescription drugs to lower costs

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar today released a plan outlining two pathways the administration intends to explore to safely import certain drugs originally intended for foreign markets. The plan calls for HHS and the Food and Drug Administration to issue a proposed rule authorizing demonstration projects to import drugs from Canada safely at lower cost. States, wholesalers and pharmacists could submit demonstration proposals for review. It also calls for FDA to issue guidance for manufacturers seeking to import FDA-approved drug products that they sell in foreign countries to potentially offer them at a lower price than their current distribution contracts require.