NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Pharmacy benefit manager

Express Scripts sued the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on

Tuesday over the regulator's recent drug pricing report, calling

the report's conclusion that the prescription middlemen raise

drug costs defamatory.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge in St. Louis, Missouri to

order the FTC to take the report down and recuse Chair Lina Khan

from any actions pertaining to the company, which is owned by

Cigna Corp.

The FTC said in the July report that market consolidation

has led to PBMs favoring their own affiliated businesses, which

creates conflicts of interest that prevent smaller independent

pharmacies from staying competitive by steering patients away

from them.

The report leans heavily on public comments and ignores

reams of evidence the PBMs provided, Express Scripts said in its

lawsuit. The report has led to lawsuits against the company and

probes by state regulators and federal lawmakers, it said.

"The Commission was intended to be a bipartisan defender

of consumers and fair competition, not an ideological pawn

driven by political winds and special interests," the company

said.

"The FTC stands by our study," said FTC spokesperson

Douglas Farrar, adding that three companies control nearly 80%

of the market.

"This is a complicated and opaque market, and the FTC is

committed to using its clear authority to help the public and

policymakers understand it," Farrar said.

The three biggest PBMs are UnitedHealth Group Inc's ( UNH )

Optum unit, CVS Health Corp's ( CVS ) CVS Caremark and

Express Scripts.