We will have to wait and see -- but these are the preliminary Q1 2013 figures, and Merck's spend is just about $300,000 lighter than it was in Q1 2012. Do recall though, that in Q1 2012, we did not yet know whether the ACA of 2010 -- or "Obamacare" -- would pass constitutional muster, so there was a lot of scurrying going on, to handle the what-if scenarios. That is all over -- now it is all about implementation of Obamacare -- in ways that best benefit Merck.
Here are the specific items Merck lobbied on or about, per its public filing for the quarter:
. . . .▲ Patent settlements (no specific bill).
▲ Non-interference in Medicare Part D (no specific bill); Medicaid-style rebates in Medicare Part D (no specific bill); Independent Payment Advisory Board (S. 351, H.R. 351).
▲ Alzheimer's education (no specific bill); 340b (no specific bill); hepatitis C education (no specific bill).
▲ Comprehensive tax reform (no specific bill); transfer pricing of intangibles (no specific bill); territorial tax system (no specific bill); deferral of taxation of foreign earned income (no specific bill); tax base erosion (no specific bill).
▲ Trans-Pacific Partnership (no specific bill); biologic data exclusivity (no specific bill); US-EU trade agreement (no specific bill); trade promotion authority (no specific bill).
▲ Supply chain safety (no specific bills).
▲ Access to over-the-counter medications (no specific bill); compounding (no specific bill).
▲ Deficit reduction (no specific bill); ADAP funding (no specific bill).
▲ Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA). . . .
There you have it -- the lobbying against limits on drug patent "pay for delay" is particularly interesting, in my opinion.
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