Gilead Lobbying Rose As Interest In COVID-19 Treatment Climbed
Gilead Sciences, the drugmaker behind the experimental COVID-19 treatment remdesivir, spent more on lobbying Congress and the administration in the first quarter of 2020 than it ever has before, according to federal filings.
The pharmaceutical company spent $2.45 million on lobbying in the first three months of the year, a 32% increase over the $1.86 million it spent in the first quarter of 2019.
The first quarter is also when Congress drafted and passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which contained numerous provisions affecting the pharmaceutical industry, including funding for the development of vaccines and treatments in response to the pandemic.
Early drafts of the legislation included a provision stipulating that COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and tests be affordable if they were developed with taxpayer funds. But the final bill included additional language that undercut that requirement.
The lobbying spike also coincided with Gilead's
