Merck, the biggest employer in Montgomery County is fighting back against the Inflation Reduction Act in court and in Washington, writes Andrew Seidman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Inflation Reduction Act was passed last year in part to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, but Merck and other pharmaceutical companies call the pharmaceutical price negotiation program for Medicare unconstitutional.

Merck filed a lawsuit back in June and has also been increasing its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. The drugmaker spent $8.2 million on federal lobbying through September.

While the supporters of the law praise it as a way to curb drug monopolies — Americans pay much higher prices for prescription drugs than citizens of other democracies ­— pharmaceutical companies say that forcing lower prices will impact their ability to invest in new treatments.

Merck said that it invests billions of dollars in developing breakthrough treatments knowing that only a small portion of them will be successful and receive regulatory approval.

“It is therefore vital for Merck to be able to charge market prices for that tiny subset of drugs that not only succeed but achieve groundbreaking results,” Patrick T. Davish, associated vice president of global market access at Merck said in the court filing.

Read more about Merck and the Inflation Reduction Act in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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