Drugmakers lobbying grows while other sectors cut back

US drugmakers have massively increased their lobbying efforts in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the previous year, despite most  other industries cutting back with the recession. According to the  Center for Responsive Politics, a liberal advocacy group that campaigns  for transparency in corporate donations to political campaigns and  monitors lobbying, the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector spent $47.4  million on such activities in the first three months of the year, a 36%  rise on 2008.

To give an idea of the scale of this investment in political influence,  the real estate sector dropped its lobbying effort by 23% to $17.1  million and auto industry cut 8% off its spending to $15.6 million. It  is also worth noting that 2008 was an election year, which might be  expected to see large sums of money spent by various business sectors on  buying political influence.

Global behemoth Pfizer was one of the leading contributors to the shift,  spending $6.1 million in January to March 2009 versus $2.8 million for  the like period of 2008. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers  of America (PhRMA) pushed its own lobbying expenditure up 92% from $3.6  million to $6.9 million.