The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), which represents leading Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM), has significantly increased its lobbying efforts in 2023 as these entities face mounting scrutiny over their involvement in the exorbitant escalation of drug costs, according to a Reuters report.

Counting CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), Cigna (NYSE:CI), UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Humana (NYSE:HUM), and Elevance Health (ELV) among its members, PCMA has expended over $15M on lobbying in 2023, as detailed in congressional records.

Meanwhile, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the foremost pharmaceutical trade group, has bolstered its lobbying efforts, investing $27M in 2023, retaining its long-standing prominent position since 2001.

PhRMA remains one of the top five spenders on lobbying in 2023, despite recent departures of major drugmakers, AstraZeneca (AZN), Teva (TEVA), and AbbVie (ABBV) from the group.

PhRMA continues its representation of U.S. pharma majors like Amgen (AMGN), Pfizer (PFE), Bristol Myers (BMY), Gilead (GILD), J&J (JNJ), Eli Lilly (LLY), and Merck (MRK), as well as European drugmakers including Novartis (OTCPK:NVSEF), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and GSK (GSK).

Contrarily, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), representing the biotech industry, experienced a decline in its 2023 lobbying expenditure, falling from second position to seventh, as companies such as Pfizer (PFE) exited the group. BIO consistently spent between $12M and $13M annually from 2019 to 2023 on lobbying.

PCMA’s 2023 lobbying expenditure displays a remarkable surge from its $8.6M and $7.8M spending in 2022 and 2021, respectively, as it grapples with intensifying criticism related to its impact on towering drug prices.