Representatives were stocking up as new Pharma Bill makes rounds in Senate
The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act was recently introduced with bipartisan support. It would prevent drug manufacturers from using patents to block generic competition. Here’s what’s going on behind the scenes with corporate lobbying & congressional stock trading 👇
This is one of the most heavily lobbied pieces of legislation in this session of Congress. Over a dozen publicly traded companies have disclosed lobbying on the bill, including Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly.
On March 1st, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. Within a week, two members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health had bought stock in Johnson & Johnson.
On April 5th, Representative Michael Burgess bought up to $50K of Amgen stock. Burgess is a member of the House Energy Subcommittee on Health.
On March 3rd, Representative Carol Miller bought stock in Pfizer. Miller previously served on the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy.
