The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday released its second interim report on pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), saying the major industry middlemen generate billions in revenue through vertical integration, industry dominance and marking up the prices of speciality drugs.

The report specifically looked at the business practices of the Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx, which are in turn owned by CVS Health, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group, respectively. These companies are considered the "Big 3" in the PBM industry, controlling roughly 60 percent of the market.

“The FTC staff’s second interim report finds that the three major pharmacy benefit managers hiked costs for a wide range of lifesaving drugs, including medications to treat heart disease and cancer,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.

Khan said during an FTC open commission meeting to discuss the findings on Tuesday that the........

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