TALLAHASSEE, Florida — When Gov. Ron DeSantis ran for president in 2024, he touted his plan for Florida to become the first state in the country to import less expensive prescription drugs from Canada into the U.S.

Yet as his time in office dwindles, that plan has been all but scuttled — leaving one contractor with more than $82 million in taxpayer money and no results to show for it.

Florida remains the only state in the country the FDA has authorized to import prescription drugs. But the state’s effort has stalled in part because it failed to win over the Canadian drug industry, which has consistently warned the Canadian government that the U.S. program jeopardized the country’s drug supply.

Florida’s Canadian drug program was expected to save the state close to $180 million by taking advantage of the country’s pricing structure for prescription drugs. And the governor held up the program as a model for other states to follow.

The Food and Drug Administration granted Florida final authorization to import Canadian prescription drugs more than two years ago with a promise from the state that it would begin importing drugs in a matter of months. But AHCA subsequently failed to launch its program, amid years of fierce headwinds brought by the Canadian market. The FDA sent the state a letter in June giving Florida until November to make progress.