Pfizer Spent $5.44 Million On Lobbyists, While Merck Spent $3.86 Million In Q1 2018...

On the heels of a STATnews report that the trade group PhRMA (detailing an all-time record high for a single quarter) spent over $10 million in Q1. . . I thought it was high time to compare such spending at Merck, Amgen and Pfizer (again). You'll note that like last year at this time, Pfizer is more focused on financial engineering measures (changes in law), here -- than basic drug discovery policy. That sets it apart from both Amgen and Merck.

As was true with the industry generally, lobby spending was way up, over prior periods, in early 2018 -- at all three companies. Amgen came in at $4.46 million -- but Pfizer was well beyond both of them, at over half what the whole trade group spent in Q1. For its part, here is a bit of what Pfizer lobbied about:

. . . .Drug Pricing, Biosimilars Reimbursement, Antibiotic Resistance/ Incentives, Drug Shortages, Reimbursement for products treating Sickle Cell Disease. . . .

Trans Pacific Partnership Negotiations, Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, Trans-Atlantic trade & Investment Partnership, Canada, IP/Trade Issues, South Africa IP Issues, China IP, Indonesia IP, Thailand IP, Korea Pricing Issues, United Nations Health Panel, G7/G20, APEC, OECD, Australia Market -- Size Damages, WTO "Zero for Zero" Pharmaceutical Agreement, NAFTA. . . .

Medicare Part D, Coverage Gap, Biosimilar pass-through. . . .

Comprehensive Corporate Tax Reform. . . .

Now you know -- I think it likely that there is some fear of a Trump administration move to directly regulate drug prices (a la Nixon's wage/price freezes), driving this upsurge in spending. Indeed, on to the north woods, for a few hours' drive, and a sweet Sunday brunch with my youngest.

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