Pharma Pulse: Independent Pharmacies Sue Express Scripts, Novo Taps Anthropic, Pharma Joins Clean Heat

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, a group of independent pharmacies in Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against Express Scripts, one of the largest PBMs in the country, alleging the company routinely reimbursed them below the cost of acquiring drugs. The suit, filed by 12 pharmacies and seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, is the first brought under an Arkansas law passed last year that lets pharmacies sue PBMs directly for reimbursing below the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost, or NADAC.¹ The complaint alleges Express Scripts underpaid tens of thousands of prescriptions between August 2025 and the end of March 2026, and argues the pattern reflects a deliberate business decision rather than isolated errors. Express Scripts says it is committed to reimbursing pharmacies at competitive rates and will defend itself against the allegations.² The case adds to a broader wave of state-level pressure on PBMs.

In other news, Novo Nordisk and Anthropic have announced a collaboration aimed at accelerating drug discovery and advancing AI-driven software development. Under the partnership, Novo will test Claude Science across select R&D workflows, targeting discovery bottlenecks where the companies believe combined computational and domain expertise can have the greatest impact, with data governance and human oversight built into the arrangement. Novo will also draw on Anthropic's frontier models to strengthen its own AI-driven software development. The deal is Novo's third major AI partnership of 2026, following agreements with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services, as the company continues building out what its CEO has called an ambition to become the world's most AI-driven healthcare company.

Lastly, Sanofi, UCB and Opella have joined AstraZeneca as founding members of the Clean Heat Program, an initiative from supply chain intelligence network Secaro and sustainability consultancy ERM aimed at decarbonizing industrial heat, one of the largest remaining sources of operational emissions across pharmaceutical manufacturing. With the healthcare sector responsible for roughly 5% of global emissions, all four companies have set aggressive scope 1 targets for their own sites and ambitious targets for suppliers, and the program is designed to address the expertise gaps, funding constraints and system upgrade complexities that have made heat one of the hardest areas to decarbonize.³ Secaro has also signed new partner agreements with Schneider Electric and 3Degrees to expand the technical and procurement support available to member companies. Sanofi's global procurement head Giannis Kourousias called heat one of the most challenging areas across the pharmaceutical value chain on the road to net zero.

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

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References

1. Achor Family Pharmacy, LLC, et al. v. Express Scripts, Inc., Complaint, Case No. 26SL-CC06268, Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, filed September 15, 2026, https://dicellolevitt.com/case-study/arkansas-pharmacy-pbm-reimbursement-litigation/
2. Rebecca Pifer Parduhn, "Express Scripts targeted by Arkansas pharmacies in first-of-its-kind lawsuit," Healthcare Dive, September 16, 2026, https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/express-scripts-arkansas-pharmacy-lawsuit-underpayment-nadac/830458/
3. Pharmaceutical industry triples down on supply chain heat decarbonization as Sanofi, UCB and Opella join AstraZeneca on Clean Heat Program. Secaro/ERM press release, September 16, 2026