Gilead Lobbying Rose As Interest In COVID-19 Treatment Climbed npr.org/sections/healt…
Gilead Sciences, the drugmaker behind the experimental COVID-19 treatment remdesivir, spent more on lobbying Congress and the administration in the first quarter of 2020 than it ever has before, according to federal filings.
The pharmaceutical company spent $2.45 million on lobbying in the first three months of the year, a 32% increase over the $1.86 million it spent in the first quarter of 2019.
The first quarter is also when Congress drafted and passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which contained numerous provisions affecting the pharmaceutical industry, including funding for & development of vaccines and treatments in response to the pandemic.
The lobbying spike also coincided with Gilead's ramping up clinical testing of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has become the most closely watched COVID-19 treatment under development.
"The data shows that remdisivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery'' from COVID-19, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the study his institute sponsored.
He said the drug would become "the standard of care."
But, the same day, a study by Chinese researchers published in The Lancet found remdesivir didn't do better than a placebo when treating seriously ill COVID patients on such measures as survival & time to clinical improvement
But, the same day, a study by Chinese researchers published in The Lancet found remdesivir didn't do better than a placebo when treating seriously ill COVID patients on such measures as survival & time to clinical improvement
Gilead says its lobbying expenditures increased sharply last quarter because in 2019, the company joined the trade group PhRMA, or the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
A portion of annual membership dues expected to go toward lobbying is typically added to first quarter lobbying disclosures, and this is the first year Gilead is paying dues for the full year, said company spokesman Chris Ridley.
He said "nearly all" of the additional $590,000 over its first quarter 2019 lobbying went toward PhRMA dues. PhRMA declined to comment on this statement.
PhRMA is considered one of the most influential trade groups on Capitol Hill, sending 183 lobbyists to advocates on the industry's behalf last year as Congress debated drug price bills that eventually stalled, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“They see dollar signs ahead and they don't want the federal government to get in their way," says Ben Wakana, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs, an advocacy group.
He said that he suspects Gilead is laying the groundwork to push back against congressional attempts to control the prices of COVID-19 drugs.
