Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency

Information for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Marketers 

The Louisiana Legislature has adopted legislation requiring each drug manufacturer or pharmaceutical marketer who engages in any form of prescription drug marketing to a prescriber, his designee, or any member of his staff in Louisiana to report certain information about that drug product to the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.  The new law, which became effective on August 1, 2017, requires the manufacturer or marketer to report the current wholesale acquisition cost information for each U.S. FDA-approved drug marketed to the state, and to report that information to the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy on a quarterly basis, more specifically no later than January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each calendar year.

Act 220 defines the term prescription drug marketing as follows: "means to provide educational or marketing information or materials regarding a prescription drug in any form including but not limited to all of the following: (a) face-to-face meetings, (b) physical mailings, (c) telephone conversations, and (d) electronic mail or facsimile."  Related legislation (Act 236 of 2017 Regular Session of Louisiana Legislature) defines the term wholesale acquisition cost as follows: "means, with respect to a pharmaceutical drug or biological product, the manufacturer's list price for the pharmaceutical drug or biological product to wholesalers or direct purchasers in the United States for the most recent month for which the information is available, as reported in wholesale price guides or other publications of pharmaceutical drug or biological product pricing data, not including prompt pay or other discounts, rebates, or reductions in price."

To facilitate compliance with the legislative mandate, the Board collaborated with ULM College of Pharmacy to develop the Louisiana Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency website.  Manufacturers or marketers are required to submit their quarterly reports via this web portal.  Upon login to the web portal, users will have access to instructions for reporting, formatting, and uploading pricing data.  Please email Dr. Greg Smith at DrugInfo@ulm.edu with any questions or if you are a representative of a manufacturer or marketer and have not received login credentials for the web portal.

Last update: 01-25-2020