PhRMA reportedly spent more on lobbying in 2007 than any other industry group, ahead of the US Chamber of Commerce, which was next with a spend of $21.16 million. There was an increase of around 25% over 2006’s lobbying costs. In total, the pharmaceutical and health care products industries spent $165 million on lobbying activities in 2007, according to the records filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House. The major drugmakers that made it into 2007’s top 20 for spending on lobbying were Roche, Amgen, Sanofi-Aventis and Pfizer.
The industry group has revealed that most of the big rise in spending in 2007 was channeled to fund efforts to get Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The group also lobbied successfully against legislative proposals like: moves to empower the federal government to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers for medicines supplied to Medicare enrollees, permitting imports of cheaper prescription medicines from Canada and elsewhere and restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising contained within the FDA reform bill, which became law in September 2007.
According to the Center’s reports, the pharmaceutical industry’s contributions to candidates for 2008’s US presidential election amounted to $9.1 million with 51% going to the Democrats and 49% to the Republicans.