In 2022, Pharma has spent twice as much as any other industry lobbying against fair drug prices
It appears Congress is now on the verge of passing historic legislation that will drive down health care costs and level the playing field for working families. A core piece of this legislation is lowering prescription drug prices. As it stands, Americans pay three times more for prescription drugs than people in other countries, forcing millions to choose between affording their medications and paying for essentials like food or rent. With this legislation, Medicare will finally have the power to negotiate for lower drug prices and all Americans will be protected against outrageous and arbitrary price increases.
However, Big Pharma is not going down without a fight. Big drug companies are spending millions on lobbying and advertisements to block any reform that brings down drug prices at the expense of their sky-high profits. With the help of their Republican allies, drug companies have been relentless in their efforts to spread lies about the Democrats’ plan to lower drug prices for families. Fortunately, the American people remain unswayed, with poll after poll showing that policies to reduce drug costs are the most popular provisions among voters. With support from Americans of all parties, President Biden and Democrats in Congress are committed to reining in Big Pharma’s greed and delivering real relief to millions of families.
Pharma Spending:
The Pharmaceutical Industry Has Spent More Than $100 Million On Lobbying In 2022. According to OpenSecrets, the pharmaceutical industry has spent $101 million lobbying on behalf of 483 clients in 2022, fighting Democratic efforts to rein in prescription drug costs. That is double the amount of the as the next largest industry.
PhRMA Cannot Be Trusted With Drug Pricing Reform. Leading the charge on pharmaceutical industry’s spending on lobbying is PhRMA, the group representing the nation’s leading biopharmaceutical companies. To date, PhRMA has spent $8.2 million Americans see through the fear tactics used by pharma industry trade groups, with more than 80 percent of Americans reporting they want Congressional action to check pharma’s greed and lower prescription drug prices.
Pharmaceutical Companies Spending The Most To Fight Prescription Drug Negotiations:
AbbVie. AbbVie has already spent nearly $4 million lobbying in 2022. AbbVie’s blockbuster immunosuppressive drug, Humira, already plays an outsized role in American health care spending as one of the nation’s highest revenue generating drugs, raking in $4.6 billion in the third-quarter of 2021 alone. AbbVie, which has hiked the price of Humira more than two dozen times and at rates far outpacing inflation.
Pfizer. A 2019 analysis found a majority of top-selling drugs from Pfizer were discovered and developed by third parties, such as universities and academic centers. These findings suggest that “a reduction in pharmaceutical revenues would not have the supposed devastating impact on the level of biopharmaceutical innovation.” This did not stop Pfizer from spending a whopping $2.7 million lobbying in 2022.
Johnson & Johnson. Despite receiving more than $1 billion in federal funding to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson has spent $2.3 million dollars lobbying Congress this year alone in an attempt to continue exploiting the lack of Medicare drug price negotiation. Johnson & Johnson saw nearly $21 billion in net earnings in 2021.
Additional Drug Makers Dropping Record Sums Lobbying:
- Amgen: $2.78 million
- Gilead Sciences: $2.62 million
- Bristol-Myers Squibb: $2.3 million
- Merck: $2.12 million
- Sanofi: $1.87 million
- Eli Lilly: $1.68 million
- AstraZeneca: $1.66 million