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WASHINGTON — A federal district judge on Monday granted the Biden administration’s request to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Medicare’s new drug price negotiation program from the drug industry lobbying organization PhRMA.

The move is an early but positive sign for the Biden administration in a legal fight that could stretch for years, as a host of major drugmakers, including Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson, have also filed lawsuits over the constitutionality of Medicare’s new powers. The first round of drug negotiations is ongoing, and a judge heard oral arguments in a challenge brought by AstraZeneca just last month.

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The National Infusion Center Association and the Global Colon Cancer Association are also plaintiffs in PhRMA’s lawsuit. The judge dismissed the National Infusion Center Association from the case because it did not have subject matter jurisdiction to bring the lawsuit. And because NICA was the only party to the lawsuit that resides in Texas, the judge tossed out the case in its entirety.

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