Merck’s Q1 Lobby Spending Is Almost Double Last Year’s Q1, And Nearly Above [Gargantuan] Pfizer’s — From Last Year’s Q1…

April 23, 2026April 23, 2026 ~ condor

This is, admittedly, a complete surprise. To be fair, Pfizer will likely always be about 30% bigger than Merck, on NYSE market cap and asset base — and thus, lobby spending.

But this huge jump in Q1 2026, for Merck seems… out of character, over the past seven or so annual cycles. [In the next in this series, we will add in the Amgen spend, which has fallen by almost as much as Merck’s has… risen. Odd.]

Why now? Why so much — in each direction?! We are abidingly curious — especially compared to the peer group. In any event, see my chart at right, and the below, filed on April 20 [and look for a four way version, with Amgen in, tonight or tomorrow]:

…[Senate] S. 1339, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act; S. 2076, Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions To End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act of 2021….

Issues relating to: 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B issues; 340B drug pricing program; Drug pricing; Drug pricing and reimbursement issues; Cost and value of medicines; Vaccine issues; Package inserts and e-labeling; Package inserts, labeling issues, and e-labeling authorization legislation; Pharmaceutical supply channel issues; Drug shortages issues; Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), issues relating to drug pricing provisions; One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), issues related to health care; FY-2027 Budget and Appropriations Legislation; Budget reconciliation drug pricing provisions; Commerce Justice, Science, and related agencies appropriations legislation for 2026; Interior, Environment, and related agencies appropriations legislation for 2026; Intellectual property protection and trade issues; Animal Health Policy Issues; Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) & Funding for Electronic Animal Traceability; General pharmaceutical issues; Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP); Vaccine Policy; Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) policy issues; Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms; Food and Drug Administration issues; Public Health Issues; Most Favored Nation (MFN) drug pricing; Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients; International competition in biopharmaceuticals….

[US House] Issues relating to: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), issues related to health care; Medicare; Medicare Part B and D drug pricing issues; 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B drug pricing program; Drug pricing; Cost and value of medicines; Drug pricing and reimbursement issues; FY-2027 Budget and Appropriations Legislation; Medicaid drug rebate program (MDRP)….

[Taxes] Issues relating to: Tax reform and tax policy, generally; Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), provisions relating to budget reconciliation and taxes; Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97), provisions relating to tax reform….

[Animal Health] Issues relating to: Animal Health Policy Issues; Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) & Funding for Electronic Animal Traceability; Agriculture, Rural Development , Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2026; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2026; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill 2026….

That is — overall, a rather stunning reversal in spend levels. Mr. Davis must believe that the arms of the federal government may be bent / bought, with enough… lucre. Wow — under Trump, that might be true. Onward.

नमस्ते

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Please excuse the thin appearance, here. This was to be a back up site, until blog.com came back online. But that seems unlikely now, so this has become the main site. Only the last twelve years' posts are here for now. The full twenty years of archived material will be imported here, once I recover my full sized images and graphics from that period, either from a cached version of the old site, or if I can find them on that old laptop I long ago moth-balled. Smile. I just don't care for the low-resolution, grainy pixelated images available via Google search at the moment. So we will wait for full size imagery -- on the oldest posts. In truth, those old posts have little relevance to today's electoral politics, except in so far as they suggest very little has changed over time -- in Mr. Hinderaker's world-view. He remains pretty regularly delusional -- since at least 2002. And that is not just a coincidence -- as one nation, we elected Mr. Obama a few years later, and Mr. Hinderaker has never recovered -- to a reality based view of America. America is now a more centrist nation, than the one he lauded under Reagan and Bush 41, 43 and 45. So be it. 45 will now be gone by November. COVID-19 has shown even the ardent partisans 45 is an emperor with no clothes.