July 2, 2010 – Drug manufacturer Medicines Company is inviting 340B covered entities to seek refunds of overcharges on its two marketed drugs, the anti-coagulant Angiomax and the calcium channel blocker Cleviprex, retroactive to the date of the company’s entry into the 340B program last December.
In a notification to 340B providers on its Web site, the drug company tells covered entities they can submit signed refund forms posted on the site to seek rebates for purchases as far back as Dec. 21, 2009. Forms must be submitted by August 31, 2010.
It is unclear from the notice whether the purpose of the refunds is to pay covered entities for deeper 340B discounts than those they might have already received since late last year, to pay for overcharges to covered entities that received no 340B discounts during that period, or both. A safety-net hospital that bought the products through its 340B account reported to the Monitorthat it was told by Medicines Company that it was not eligible for a rebate and that rebates are only available for purchases made through a GPO contract. Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access, which represents hospitals that participate in the drug discount program, says is continuing to seek clarity on this matter.
The manufacturer expects covered entities to include the following information on the refund form: (1) the invoice number, date of purchase, and purchase price relating to the product for which the refund is sought; (2) the number of boxes of each NDC purchased for appropriate use under the 340B program; and (3) the name of the wholesaler from which the product was purchased.
Medicines Company will inform covered entities in a separate communication when their refunds have been approved. Refunds of overpayments will be processed by Apexus/340B Prime Vendor Program as credits against future purchases, applied to the covered entity’s 340B account with its wholesaler. It does not appear that cash refunds will be made available to covered entities.
Refund forms must be emailed to 340Bprogram@themedco.com or mailed to Nancy Navin at the company’s physical address at 8 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, N.J. 07054. Inquiries should be addressed to nancy.navin@themedco.com or (973) 290-6056.