The US FTC’s announcement of an inquiry into PBMs will be music to the ears of the country’s generics and biosimilars industry, which has long called for action on abusive practices that undermine access.

Pharmacy benefit managers often fail to encourage the use of generic and biosimilar medications and in fact undermine patient access to these more affordable drugs, the Association for Accessible Medicines has told the US Federal Trade Commission.

California’s 2020-2021 fiscal budget includes plans to work with manufacturers to establish the state’s own generics label. But industry is sceptical that the initiative will deliver the savings that the US state hopes for.