09:31 AM EDT, 09/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with the US Federal Trade Commission's response in the fifth paragraph.)

Cigna ( CI ) said Tuesday its Express Scripts by Evernorth unit has sued the Federal Trade Commission in Missouri federal court, demanding the retraction of the regulator's July 2024 drug pricing report on the pharmacy benefit management, or PBM industry.

Cigna ( CI ) said the July 2024 report makes "unsubstantiated, false and biased claims."

The FTC's report shows "clear ideological bias" and includes "a false and damaging narrative", according to Andrea Nelson, Cigna's ( CI ) chief legal officer.

"There is no support for claims that PBMs are responsible for high drug costs," the company said. Cigna ( CI ) said PBMs have no incentive to see price hikes for branded drugs.

"The FTC stands by our study," an FTC spokesperson told MT Newswires. "Just three companies control nearly 80% of the market that millions of Americans must use to purchase necessary drugs at high costs. 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."

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