Lilly "Fell Off A Cliff" In Q4 2024 -- On Lobby Spend -- And This, With Difficult Govt. Payor Negotiations On Its Weight Loss Franchises, Ahead... Odd.

Yes, it is an election year. Yes, Tangerine 2.0's influence is most chaotic in the days BEFORE he assumes office -- as once in, the courts (as we've seen) may pretty promptly rein in the worst of him. But still. . . only spending under $200,000 in Q4 seemed. . . odd, for Lilly (see second chart -- below right).

Thus, the list of what it bent Congressional ears on. . . is correlatively shorter than that seen in Q3 2024, to be certain. Anyway, here it is, for the $190,000 in spending, all in:

. . .▲ Issues related to intellectual property protection and market access within current trade negotiations. Canada IP; USMCA implementation; Mexico patent linkage; Special 301; Trade talks: US-Japan, US-China, US-EU, US-UK, US-India, and US-Brazil. . .

▲ Patient protection; Pharmaceutical supply chain issues and shortages; Drug pricing, coverage, value, access and quality; Transparency; Intellectual property; Health insurance accessibility; Implementation of the "Inflation Reduction Act" (HR.5376); Prescription drug approval; Affordable Insulin Now Act (S.954/HR.1488), The INSULIN Act; Policy matters related to Artificial Intelligence in health care. . . .

▲ Intellectual property; 340B Program; Medicare & Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement, coverage and value; Implementation of the "Inflation Reduction Act" (HR.5376); CMS National Coverage Determination on Alzheimer's disease; The INSULIN Act. . . .

▲ Multi-lateral threats to IP and the biopharmaceutical industry; Drug importation; Prescription drug value, access and quality. . . .

▲ Pharmaceutical intellectual property issues. . . .

▲ Implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; Domestic manufacturing tax incentives; Expensing of research and development costs; Global minimum tax; Pension and retirement benefit issues; round-tripping [Ed. Note: what exactly is meant by this? A "donut hole" derivative?!]. . . .

▲ Hospital discounts; 340B program; Prescription drug value, access, quality and compliance with Drug Quality and Safety Act. . . .

Now you know -- onward grinning -- and scratching my head -- as to what Lilly's lobbying team means by "round tripping" [also, at the vast bump in traffic, out of Lilly's HQ in the last forty-eight hours]. Here you go, folks! Smile.

Updated: if "round tripping" does not refer to US pricing of pharmaceuticals, but instead refers to the questionable tax minimization strategy of multi-nationals, generally -- in moving IP to low tax jurisdictions, reporting vast income there, but then deploying the accumulated capital back into the US, to pay dividends on the Holdco (or to lend money to it) thus effectively repatriating the earnings, to build new factories, etc. (effectively tax nearly-free), while avoiding formal repatriation taxes. . . well, the company should be MUCH more transparent about it being a tax strategy that some it Congress may seek to curtail or end, entirely. So far, Tangerine 2.0 is completely mum on that topic (he very likely won't understand it, when it is explained to him in small words, pictures and short sentences, some months from now, anyway!). Trump seems content to let PhRMA do as it pleases, at the moment. I guess that's good news for Lilly -- and the pharma majors.

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