The news: Connecticut plans to ask the federal government to allow it to contract for generic GLP-1 drugs for state employees and Medicaid patients.

Under a newly passed law, the state has until Aug. 7 to petition HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to use a federal provision to allow Connecticut to hire a generic drugmaker to manufacture GLP-1 drugs.

Digging into the details: The federal law, known as Section 1498, allows the US government to use or manufacture patented products without permission with “reasonable compensation.”

• The provision was used limitedly by the Department of Defense in the 1960s to buy patented drugs from unlicensed manufacturers to lower its medical costs, per the Regulatory Review.
• In 2022, Sen. Elizbeth Warren (D-MA) and co-sponsors asked then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to use Section 1498 and other administrative tools to lower prescription drug costs.
• The Public Citizen health advocacy group also petitioned Becerra in 2024 to specifically use the provision to authorize generic semaglutide manufacturing of Novo Nordisk GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Yes, but: Legal experts generally agree there is little precedent for Section 1498 for generic drugs, and any attempt would likely be challenged in court.

Why it matters: GLP-1 drug costs to public and commercial insurance are soaring.