The Biotechnology Industry Organization spent almost $2 million in the second quarter as it lobbied a slew of government agencies on issues including health care reform and patent laws, The Associated Press reports.
The group’s lobbying interests included the implementation of the March 2010 health care law, and its effects on Medicare prescription drug plans, Medicare reimbursement, research and development tax credits, animal cloning, funding for biofuels projects, rural development, appropriations for the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies, and patent issues.
BIO also lobbied on DNA patenting and licensing. In July, a federal court ruled that human genes can be patented, reversing a ruling by a lower court. The government has been issuing patents on human genes for about 30 years, but in March 2010, a New York court ruled that genes cannot be patented. If that ruling had stood, it could have hurt research and profits for drugmakers and agriculture companies.
BIO said it lobbied Congress, the White House, the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Commerce and Treasury, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Trade Representative, the National Institutes of Health, the Departments of the Air Force and Navy, the Office of Science & Technology Policy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service.
The Washington-based group, which represents more than 1,100 members worldwide, spent $2 million in the first quarter this year and a little more than $2 million on lobbying in the second quarter of 2010. It disclosed its activity in a form filed July 20 with the House clerk’s office.
