Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson spent $8.25 million on federal lobbying in 2024, according to OpenSecrets. The company's political action committee distributed $519,500 to federal candidates in the 2023-2024 cycle, with total PAC contributions reaching $1.76 million including state-level disbursements. These expenditures fund a lobbying operation focused on drug pricing, regulatory access, and patent protection.

The lobbying apparatus has been deployed against direct public interest. In July 2023, Johnson & Johnson sued the Biden administration to block Medicare drug price negotiations authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act, arguing the program violated the First and Fifth Amendments. The company's blood thinner Xarelto was among the first ten drugs selected for negotiation due to its position as one of the most costly Medicare Part D drugs. Johnson & Johnson also used patent-stacking strategies on its blockbuster immunology drug Stelara, acquiring patents a decade after the drug's original approval that were specific to biosimilar manufacturing processes unrelated to producing Stelara itself. Public Citizen documented how Johnson & Johnson leveraged these secondary patents to delay U.S. biosimilar competition until 2025, years after lower-cost alternatives became available in other countries.