The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of Americatrade group, which represents 37 drug companies, spent $9.91million in the first quarter, up from $6.03 million during the lastquarter of 2018. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Large drug makers and the industry's primary trade group nearedprevious spending records on lobbying in thefirst three months of the year as President Donald Trump andCongress increased pressure to rein in the cost ofmedicine.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America tradegroup, which represents 37 drug companies, spent $9.91 million inthe first quarter, up from $6.03 million during the last quarter of2018, and just shy of its record a year earlier, according todisclosures filed with Congress before a Monday deadline.

Related: Quick take: Key themes affecting pharma in2019

Drug companies are facing an unprecedented threat to theirpricing practices as the president and lawmakers from both partieshave targeted the high costs of drugs. That has become one of thefew areas of bipartisan agreement in an otherwise divisivepolitical climate.

The Trump administration has proposed new rules and approved aslew of new generic drugs, sending a signal that more ambitiouschanges may be needed to lower pharmaceutical prices for Americans.That's spurred drugmakers to reveal prices of their prescriptiondrugs on websites for the first time in a bid to avoid being forcedto make even more public disclosures in TV ads.

Two of the world's biggest insulin producers started offeringbigger discounts — prompting Congress to callfor more action and criticize the companies for waiting for solong.

 Quarterly increases

AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Bayer AG, Biogen Inc.,Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Merck & Co. Inc., Novartis AG, PfizerInc. and Sanofi all bolstered their first-quarter spending comparedwith the fourth quarter, according to the filings.

Novartis hiked its spending an eye-popping 450 percent to $3.2million from $580,000, and that figure was also about 5 percentabove what it spent a year earlier, the filings show. Merck spent$2.74 million in the period, more than 200 percent more than in thelast quarter of 2018, but that figure was down more than 17 percentcompared with the year before, when it was one of several companiesto set a group record.

AstraZeneca, Biogen and Bristol-Myers all spent more than theiryear-earlier levels. Those companies and AbbVie, Merck, Novartis,Pfizer, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson all disclosed lobbying ondrug pricing, among other issues.

The tide has turned for drug companies in Washington after yearsof being able to keep Congress at bay. A February hearing beforethe Senate Finance Committee that called on top officials fromseven major drugmakers was touted as a moment of reckoning thatcould lead to a clampdown similar to what Big Tobacco faced in thelate 1990s. But there were few fireworks, with lawmakers largelyrefraining from bashing the companies, which blamed a patchwork ofincentives for high out-of-pocket costs for patients.

One sign that the drug lobby was losing its grip on Congresscame in the first quarter of 2018, when PhRMA was blindsided by achange lawmakers made to Medicare that put drugmakers on the hookfor more of seniors' prescription costs. In that quarter, PhRMA andcompanies including AbbVie, Bayer, Celgene Corp., Novo Nordisk A/Sand Sanofi set quarterly lobbying spending records.

America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group representinginsurers, spent $2.88 million on lobbying, including on Medicarefor All, according to its disclosure. That figure was up more than87 percent from the previous quarter and up 26 percent from a yearearlier.

The disclosures generally don't say what positions a tradeassociation or company took on any given issue.

Medicare for All has become a litmus test between progressivesand moderates in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidentialnomination.

Read more: 

• 5 things senators are hearing about drugprices
• Revamp pharmaceutical supply chain to cut costs,senator says
• Lowering drug prices: Can California make ithappen?

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