Gephardt Joins All-Star Lobbying Effort

Former House minority leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., is among the four new lobbyists retained this year by drug maker The Medicines Company (MDCO) to lobby for one small change to patent law. MDCO has added two new firms, the Gephardt Group and Cornerstone Government Affairs, to its $3 million-a-year lobbying army. In 2001, the company filed a patent-extension application one day late and now is lobbying for a measure allowing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to accept late applications. The measure, which would apply only to MDCO, could be worth $1 billion to the company by keeping off the amrket for an additional 56 months generic versions of the drug Angiomax. MDCO’s lobbyists on this issue have included former House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) and a handful of top staffers to key lawmakers.