Pharma firms upped lobbying 23% before TrumpRx launch

Pharmaceutical Firms Increase Lobbying Ahead of TrumpRx Launch

TrumpRx, the new drug-pricing program from the White House, has seen a significant surge in lobbying efforts by the 17 pharmaceutical companies involved. These firms, which form the backbone of the initiative, invested over $130 million in federal lobbying in 2025. This represents a near 23% upsurge, which outstripped the growth of the larger industry as the program was being developed.

These firms were responsible for more than a quarter of the record $457.3 million spent on lobbying for the entire pharmaceutical and health product industry in 2025. The most crucial lobbying push occurred in 2025, leading up to the launch of TrumpRx in February 2026. The first quarter reports of 2026 show that the upsurge in lobbying has not slowed, with industry-wide spending exceeding $131 million, a 5.7% increase from the previous year.

Preparations for TrumpRx

According to Olivier Wouters, an associate professor at Brown University who has studied the lobbying efforts in the industry, the companies involved are “spending a ton of money.” In fact, out of the companies participating in President Donald Trump’s “most favored nation” drug-pricing initiative, 15 out of the 17 increased their year-over-year spending in 2025, with eight of them, including Regeneron, raising their expenditure by at least 25%.

Interestingly, the two companies with the steepest increases market medications that experienced substantial price cuts in 2026. Bristol Myers Squibb, known for the anti-clotting drug Eliquis, almost doubled its lobbying spending in 2025. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca increased its federal lobbying expenditure by over 55% to approximately $5.8 million.

About TrumpRx

TrumpRx provides discounts on brand-name drugs, with the rates matched to lower international prices. In return, the administration has granted firms involved in the program multi-year exemptions from new import tariffs. Another feature of the program allows manufacturers to sell high-volume drugs directly to patients, bypassing the need for insurance intermediaries.

Lobbying Trends

The health care sector has always been a major player on K Street, the hub of the lobbying industry in Washington. In 2025, a record-breaking 2,632 clients lobbied health-related issues. Notably, 12 out of the top 15 spenders in the industry were among those firms participating in the TrumpRx initiative. These firms collectively spent nearly $134 million on federal lobbying in 2025, a near 23% increase from the previous year, overtaking the industry’s overall 15% increase.

The ‘Pill Penalty’ and GLP-1 Lobbying

The TrumpRx coalition drastically increased its lobbying efforts on a pair of bills that determine how Medicare negotiates prices. Small-molecule drugs become eligible for price negotiation four years earlier than biologics, and the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures Act aims to eradicate this difference.

Two pharmaceutical firms, Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk, significantly pushed legislation affecting their most profitable products, GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss. Both lobbied for the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, which would allow Medicare Part D to cover weight-loss drugs.

Overlap in Lobbying Networks

Several lobbying firms were hired by multiple TrumpRx participants, with some representing a striking number of them. Over 60% of the over 500 lobbyists representing the 17 companies were revolving-door lobbyists, a rate higher than the broader pharmaceutical and health-products industry’s 51%.

The full story was produced by OpenSecrets and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.