12:19 PM EDT, 07/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Ardelyx ( ARDX ) said Thursday that it partnered with two groups in filing a lawsuit seeking to stop the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from pursuing a plan to include Xphozah and other oral-only phosphate lowering therapies in the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

Xphozah and other PLTs are currently available to patients under outpatient pharmacy benefit plans such as Medicare Part D, according to Ardelyx ( ARDX ). These "are not administered by dialysis providers and cannot be taken during the delivery of maintenance dialysis," the company added.

The lawsuit, filed against CMS and the US Department of Health and Human Services, claims that the CMS plan to include Xphozah in the bundled payment system is inconsistent with the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act and will limit patient choice and access to important drugs, Ardelyx ( ARDX ) said.

Ardelyx ( ARDX ) said it partnered with the American Association of Kidney Patients and the National Minority Quality Forum in filing the lawsuit.

Neither CMS nor HHS immediately responded to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

Ardelyx ( ARDX ) shares were down 3.8% in recent trading.

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