Generic drug group spent $434,495 lobbying in 1Q

The trade group lobbied on legislation related to generic drugs, drug safety, counterfeits, Medicaid reimbursement and rebates, patent reform, intellectual property rights, and U.S. trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The Arlington, Va.-based association's members include Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Mylan Inc.

Generic drug companies market cheaper versions of chemical drugs, but the Food and Drug Administration doesn't have the authority to approve generic versions of more complex biotech drugs.

Efforts to enact a generic biotech bill broke down in Congress over disagreements on how long those drugs should be on the market before they have to compete with cheaper copies.

In addition, an effort to overhaul the patent system stalled amid fierce opposition from the brand-name pharmaceutical industry, which maintains that the proposed changes would weaken protections on drugs by reducing infringement penalties.

Besides Congress, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association lobbied the departments of Commerce, Treasury, and Health and Human Services as well as the FDA, Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Patent and Trademark Office, according to the report filed April 21 with the House clerk's office.

Lisa Layman, formerly a senior policy adviser to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., was among those lobbying on behalf of the association in the first three months of the year.