AHF: Drain the Apexus Swamp

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–By virtue of its exclusive contract to manage the 340B Drug Pricing Program since 2004, Apexus has become a government-sanctioned entity fraught with self-dealing interests in the 340B marketplace. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) welcomes Senator Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) inquiry into Apexus. The prime vendor is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, leveraging its former nonprofit status to procure the federal contract while generating significant revenue for its for-profit parent company, Vizient, the nation’s largest group purchasing organization for prescription drugs.

In theory, the prime vendor negotiates sub-340B ceiling price discounts on behalf of all eligible nonprofit healthcare providers. Unfortunately, AHF has experienced how Apexus negotiates in practice. In 2022, AHF filed suit against Apexus, alleging that the federal contractor failed to negotiate in good faith for sub-ceiling price discounts on HIV therapeutics. Despite its contractual mandate, Apexus directs time and resources toward negotiating the prices of drugs most used by larger 340B hospital clients of Vizient. The AHF complaint also alleges a lack of ethical firewalls, as Apexus makes no effort to separate its prime vendor obligations from other business verticals under the Vizient umbrella.

Apexus was the subject of a scathing 2025 New York Times exposé based on interviews of current and former employees, internal memoranda, and company emails that document how Apexus “supercharges” 340B to benefit its bottom line. According to the report, Apexus has an incentive to increase 340B purchases since it makes a fee for almost every drug sold in the program. More fees for Apexus mean greater profits for Vizient. It makes sense to focus on the large hospital systems responsible for 80% of 340B purchases. That is why Apexus has no business administering the 340B program. The conflict of interest provides cause for the Department of Health and Human Services to void the Apexus contract immediately.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.8 million individuals across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

Contacts

John Hassell, AHF National Director of Advocacy
1.202.774.4854 mobile. john.hassell@ahf.org

Ged Kenslea, Sr. Director, Communications, AHF
1.323.791.5526 mobile. ged.kenslea@ahf.org