By Will Feuer

AstraZeneca said it has filed a legal challenge to certain aspects of the drug price negotiation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, arguing that the law will have unintended consequences that risk deterring research in drugs for rare diseases.

The British drugmaker said aspects of the IRA could work against goals of the 1983 Orphan Drug Act, which AstraZeneca said is designed to encourage manufacturers to invest in new therapies for rare diseases.

"Rare disease and cancer patients depend upon high-risk, low-probability drug development that takes many years to develop and aims for cure," said Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president of AstraZeneca's oncology unit. "If today's version of the law stands, patients in the United States with rare conditions, who have benefited from the Orphan Drug Act, will get delayed access to scientific breakthroughs relative to other parts of the world."

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2023 07:42 ET (11:42 GMT)

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