SCRIPT Act

Overview of SCRIPT Act

The SCRIPT Act, signed into law (S.L. 2025-69) by Governor Stein on July 9, 2025, relates to regulation of the pharmacy benefit manager industry and prescription drug pricing transparency. Part VIII of the law requires drug manufacturers to notify interested parties about certain price increases and the price of newly introduced prescription drugs.  

How to Comply with the SCRIPT Act

Disclosure of Price Increases

By January 31 of each year, a manufacturer shall notify all interested parties of each increase in price of fifteen percent (15%) or greater that occurred in the prior calendar year for a prescription drug with a price of one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more for a 30-day supply.  

The manufacturer shall disclose all of the following to interested parties for each drug price increase noticed for the prior calendar year under this subsection: 

  • The date and price of acquisition of the drug, if it was not developed by the manufacturer
  • A schedule of price increases for the drug for the five years prior to the calendar year. 

Disclosure of Prices for New Products 

A manufacturer shall notify all interested parties of the price of any new prescription drug within three days after it is made available for purchase in this State. Within 30 days after the notification required by this subsection, the manufacturer shall disclose to interested parties the date and price of acquisition of the drug if it was not developed by the manufacturer. 

Submission Process

Drug Pricing Information or an annual consolidated report on Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K or any other public disclosure can be submitted using the NCDHHS SCRIPT Act Submission Portal. As written under 90-85.56(c): “Satisfaction of Obligations. – A manufacturer's obligations under this section shall be fully satisfied by the submission of information and data that a manufacturer includes in its annual consolidated report on Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K or any other public disclosure."

SCRIPT Act FAQs

Tab/Accordion Items

  • Price Increases: Manufacturers are required to submit information about specified price increases from the previous calendar year by January 31 of the following year. Specified price increases include: A price increase of at least 15% for a prescription drug product with a wholesale acquisition cost of $100 or more for a 30-day supply.
  • New Products: Manufacturers are required to submit information about any new prescription drug product within 30 days of it being available for purchase in the state. For new products, the price threshold for reporting is $100 or more for a 30-day supply.

The law specifies a deadline of January 31 for submission of data pertaining to price increases made in the previous calendar year.

For new products, submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis in order to allow for disclosure within 30 days of the product being made available for purchase in the state.

Under the law, the NCDHHS Secretary is required to assess civil penalties not to exceed $1,000 per day for each day the manufacturer delays submission of information.

All manufacturer submissions will be made available on the NCDHHS website. Since submission of a Form 10-K or any other public disclosure fulfills manufacturer obligations under the law, if submitted, those documents which will be posted are already in the public domain.

NCDHHS is working on the submission and publication process and will provide updates on this webpage.

Information provided to the Secretary or an interested party under Article 4D shall be considered trade secret under Article 24 of Chapter 66 of the General Statutes, confidential, exempt from public inspection and copying under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, and shall not be disclosed directly or indirectly unless the information is already in the public domain. Additionally, manufacturer obligations under Article 4D are satisfied by submission of a SEC Form 10-K, which is already publicly available under the SEC’s EDGAR Database.

NCDHHS is working on a template for manufacturers to use and will provide updates on this webpage. For now, manufacturers should use a format of their choice and upload the files to the NCDHHS SCRIPT Act Submission Portal. If additional information is needed, someone will follow-up with the point of contact indicated in the submission. 

  • For disclosure of price increases, manufacturers at a minimum should include the following data elements:
    • National Drug Code (NDC)
    • Drug Name
    • The date and price of acquisition of the drug, if it was not developed by the manufacturer 
    • A schedule of price increases for the drug for the five years prior to the calendar year
  • For disclosure of prices for new products, manufacturers at a minimum should include the following data elements:
    • National Drug Code (NDC)
    • Drug Name
    • The date and price of acquisition of the drug, if it was not developed by the manufacturer

 

For all other questions, please contact SCRIPT.Act@dhhs.nc.gov.

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