Pharma Pulse: Cardinal Health Bulks Up Home Care, Trump Unveils Phased Generics Tariffs

Welcome to Pharma Pulse, a Pharmaceutical Commerce podcast bringing you the latest insights shaping patient access, regulatory policy, and healthcare innovation. I'm your host, and let's get into today's headlines.

First up, Cardinal Health is doubling down on home care with two tuck-in acquisitions.

Cardinal Health announced it has entered into two definitive agreements to acquire the Diabetes Health business of AdaptHealth Corp., and Strive Medical, a multi-specialty supply provider focused on urology. Combined, the deals total approximately $360 million in cash, subject to working capital adjustments.¹

According to Jason Hollar, CEO of Cardinal Health, the transactions "build on the synergies created by our recent investments in home care" and expand the company's depth across diabetes management and urology.¹

The deals extend the framework Cardinal Health built with its acquisition of Advanced Diabetes Supply, a business the company says it fully integrated onto its at-Home Solutions distribution network, onboarding nearly 500,000 new customers in the process.

For a distributor already leaning into direct-to-patient care, the moves signal that home-based chronic disease management, not just the pharmacy counter, is becoming a durable growth lane.

Next, the Trump administration put a number, and a deadline, on its generic drug tariff plans.

President Trump announced that generic drugs imported into the US will face a zero tariff through August 2026, before a phased escalation imposes a 100% levy in August 2028 and a 200% rate the following year.² Posting on Truth Social, Trump framed the schedule as a deliberate incentive: the delay gives companies time to build US plant and equipment, with tariffs rising as "a penalty to those companies that decide not to."² Patented, branded, and innovative medicines are excluded, remaining under the separate tariff track the administration set in April.

India stands to absorb the biggest hit. The country's manufacturers supply nearly half of all generic medicines consumed in the US, accounting for roughly a third of India's pharma exports.² China's dominance in active pharmaceutical ingredients means the exposure extends well beyond finished-dose importers, too.

Whether the tariff threat actually reshores manufacturing is another question.

Lastly, the GLP-1 rivalry between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly has moved from the sales force to the courtroom.

Novo Nordisk filed suit against Eli Lilly in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, accusing Lilly of running national ad campaigns for Zepbound and Mounjaro that violate the Lanham Act and state false-advertising statutes. The core claim: Lilly's ads compare its top tirzepatide doses against older, lower-potency doses of Wegovy and Ozempic, while leaving out the stronger options Novo already has on the market, including the 7.2 mg Wegovy dose the FDA approved in March 2026.

Novo also points out that no head-to-head trial has directly pitted the top doses of Zepbound and Wegovy against each other, which it argues makes Lilly's side-by-side comparisons harder to defend, especially given how widely the ads have run, including during major sports broadcasts and on social media.

Novo is seeking a court order permanently barring the ads and forcing Lilly to run corrective messaging, and says it will move for a preliminary injunction absent a voluntary pullback. The case sits in Lanham Act territory rather than FDA enforcement, meaning it targets marketing claims, not drug labels, but the timing lines up with a broader regulatory push.

That's it for this episode of Pharma Pulse. For more insights on trends transforming pharmaceutical access, visit pharmaceuticalcommerce.com. Thanks for listening—until next time, stay well and stay informed.

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References

1. Cardinal Health expands home care business with two tuck-in acquisitions. Press Release. Cardinal Health. Published July 20, 2026. https://newsroom.cardinalhealth.com/2026-07-20-Cardinal-Health-expands-home-care-business-with-two-tuck-in-acquisitions
2. Jacobus, N. President Trump Announces Phased Generic Drug Tariff Plan: Report. PharmExec. Published July 22, 2026. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/president-trump-phased-drug-tariff