Axios

Amazon may be talking with some middle-market pharmacy benefit managers "in an effort to get into various contract arrangements," according to analysts at investment bank Leerink Partners who spoke with pharmacy executives. Amazon may pursue a mail-order pharmacy that initially targets uninsured customers or people who have high deductibles and pay cash for most of their prescription drugs.

Reality check: The country is still a long way from Amazon handling people's prescriptions, if that time even comes. But conversations with prescription drug middlemen make it appear "that this is the direction Amazon is moving in," Leerink said in a report. Pharmacy executives who spoke with Leerink said it would take at least 18 to 24 months for Amazon to get proper drug licenses in 50 states. Amazon didn't immediately respond.

Pfizer is suing Johnson & Johnson, alleging Johnson & Johnson crafted exclusive contracts with health insurers and health care providers to keep its autoimmune drug Remicade as a sole treatment option even though Pfizer came out with a cheaper biosimilar version, called Inflectra, this past November. The lawsuit says "consumers suffer in the form of artificially inflated prices."

Why it matters: When blockbuster drugs like Remicade lose patent protection or face competition from cheaper alternatives, drug companies face the prospect of losing billions of dollars in sales. This lawsuit between two of the largest U.S.-based pharmaceutical firms is yet another example of the extent companies will go to litigate or protect lucrative drugs.

The Senate GOP's weekly press conference focused on — what else? — the Graham-Cassidy plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Sens. Lindsey Graham, who said he's "never felt better about where we're at," and Bill Cassidy were along to answer questions regarding the state of play.

The big argument: Graham framed his health care plan as the only thing standing in the way of the United States' eventual move to a single-payer system (he didn’t explain why). "Here's the choice for America: socialism or federalism when it comes to your health care,” he said.

Paul Ryan and the White House have told Senate Republicans they won't support a bipartisan plan to make urgent fixes to the Affordable Care Act, Politico reports. Instead, they're all in on the McConnell-endorsed Graham-Cassidy bill, a last-ditch effort to repeal the ACA by a Sept. 30 deadline.

What they're saying: Politico cites some Republicans who said the talks between Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) won't offer enough for conservatives and are unlikely to produce legislation that can pass. Meanwhile, a senior WH official told Politico that "there was never much interest in the Murray-Alexander talks" anyway.