High prescription drug prices have made the pharmaceutical industry the target of mounting criticism, as well as a hot-button issue so far this election season. Now, the industry is building a new advertising campaign aimed at improving its reputation with lawmakers as it campaigns against efforts to curb prescription drug costs, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the sector's largest trade group, said it plans to spend several millions of dollars in 2016 on radio and print ads that emphasize the pharmaceutical industry's role in developing new drugs and advancing medical science, a 10 percent increase in spending from 2015. PhRMA includes nearly three dozen of the largest pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Amgen, according to the report.
PhRMA is running many of the ads on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to target federal and state lawmakers, policy analysts and others who wage political influence, Robert Zirkelbach, senior vice president of communications at PhRMA, told WSJ. The campaign is largely directed at policymakers in Washington, but will also run in some other select states.
The ads feature patients who have been helped by new treatments and scientists working on drug development, but don't mention the prices of the drugs, according to the report. Some promote the financial assistance companies provide to help the poor and uninsured obtain medication.
The campaigns come amid calls for the government to play a larger role in controlling drug prices, which has prompted a significant increase in PhRMA's lobbying activity, according to the report. For instance, when the trade group learned Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was drafting a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to fight rising drug prices, PhRMA "proactively mounted a campaign to discourage Democrats from signing it," according to the report.
Mr. Zirkelbach did not comment on an increase in PhRMA's lobbying efforts on drug prices, or whether the group tried to dissuade Democrats from signing Sen. Franken's letter, according to the report. However, the group spent $18.45 million lobbying federal officials in 2015, up 11 percent from 2014.