A new political action committee devoted to supporting or opposing candidates based on their stance on high drug prices is gearing up for combat ahead of the 2018 midterms.
The group Patients for Affordable Drugs formed earlier this year a political action committee called Patients for Affordable Drugs Action and is targeting candidates for the 2018 midterms. It is the only PAC dedicated solely to drug pricing, which is often cited as a major issue for voters, and the group is still figuring out which races to highlight ahead of the midterms.
The groupâs executive director is Ben Wakana, a Democratic operative who served as a press secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services as the prior administration fought to implement Obamacare. Despite his Democratic roots, he insisted to the Washington Examiner, âWe are going to be active in statewide races and congressional races on both sides of the aisle. We are committed to doing an equal number of pro-Democrat and pro-Republican races.â
One of the groupâs first moves was to release a report last week highlighting candidate Bob Huginâs tenure as CEO of drug maker Celgene. Hugin is the GOP challenger for the senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
The groupâs report charged that while Hugin was at the helm of Celgene, it doubled the price of blood cancer drug Revlimid. It also criticized Hugin for delaying generic competition by refusing to sell samples to generic companies needed for testing required for Food and Drug Administration approval.
âHuginâs maneuvers caught the federal governmentâs attention and even led to three lawsuits against Celgene in federal court,â the report said.
But the group is also looking to help Republicans that have pushed for drug pricing legislation.
This week it will announce a six-figure TV ad buy to support Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va.
âMcKinley fought for solutions for lower drug prices,â Wakana said.
McKinley introduced the FAST Generics Act, which would prohibit techniques brand name drug companies use to stymie generic competition, including denying sales of samples.
He has also fought against cuts to a drug discount program to rural hospitals.
Wakana said that the group would announce more races it will get involved in as the midterms approach. He said that the group will take into account a variety of factors when endorsing or opposing a candidate, including the amount of money a candidate gets from the pharmaceutical lobby.
Drug companies have ramped up lobbying since the 2016 election after President Trump said they were âgetting away with murderâ due to high prices.
In 2017, pharmaceutical companies spent more than $84 million in lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It is the highest amount of lobbying spending since the center started collecting data in 1998.
Wakana wouldnât say how much money the group is committing to races this year.
âOur campaign will include TV ads, digital ads and direct voter outreach,â he said. âIt is safe to say we will spend millions of dollars.â
But he added the group doesnât want to telegraph to the pharmaceutical lobby how much it plans to spend overall on races.
Wakana added that the group will not accept any funding from a group that profits from the development or distribution of pharmaceuticals. That rules out insurers, drug middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers and drug makers.
The group gets the majority of its funding from the Action Now Initiative, which is founded by John Arnold, a private hedge fund manager, and his wife Laura.
âWe believe this effort will take millions of dollars and we will plan to spend that,â Wakana said. âWe welcome support from anyone who shares our goal of lowering drug prices.â
