AstraZeneca sued Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Aug. 14, becoming the third drugmaker to challenge the state’s new 340B contract pharmacy law in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The filing follows AbbVie’s and Novartis’ Aug. 7 lawsuits against the same law, which Gov. JB Pritzker signed to bar manufacturers from restricting which contract pharmacies covered entities can use and from collecting certain 340B compliance data. AbbVie and Novartis both argue Illinois’ law is preempted by federal law and violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause by forcing manufacturers to extend discounted drugs to for-profit pharmacy partners Congress never intended to benefit.
AstraZeneca’s lawsuit mirrors a pattern the company has followed in other states in 2026. In Washington, AbbVie, Novartis, AstraZeneca and PhRMA sued separately over a similar law to Illinois’ legislation within days of it being signed, and a judge denied the companies’ bid to block it in June. All three companies have since appealed.
Illinois is the newest front in litigation Becker’s has tracked across at least five circuits, with rulings on contract pharmacy laws split by court and more appellate arguments scheduled for the second half of 2026.
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