STAT+: Pharma’s trade group spent heavily on search ads to sway public opinion
PhRMA spent an estimated $59 million on search advertising over a recent seven-year period to influence how Americans view prescription drug costs.
The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, a lobbying group for the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, spent a staggering $59 million on search advertising over a seven-year period to shape public perception around the contentious issue of prescription drug costs, according to a new analysis. This expenditure breaks down to roughly $32 million directed at ads related to insurance and health plan searches, with an additional $28 million spent on ads aimed at directing users to their own web pages and domains criticizing pharmacy benefit managers.
The analysis, published in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, reveals that PhRMA utilized over 283,500 distinct keywords to generate 17.1 million paid visits between 2019 and 2025. The surge in spending notably increased around significant legislative and regulatory actions, such as Medicare's initiation of drug price negotiations in 2023.
Written by urgent.news from STAT News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
