The Federal Trade Commission has told pharmacy benefit managers to disregard what the FTC calls its outdated guidelines, a move that pharmaceutical lawyers and professors said indicates the agency will take a stricter regulatory stance with PBMs.

“It’s clear that PBMs are in the crosshairs at the moment” between the FTC and congressional efforts to ensure the industry is held accountable, said Lee Rosebush, a Baker & Hostetler partner who heads the firm’s pharmacy team. “The FTC is diving head first” into the PBM space, he added.