PhRMA spent roughly $59 million on search ads to shape public views on drug pricing

PhRMA, the trade group for U.S. drug makers, spent about $59 million on search advertising over a recent seven‑year period to influence how Americans perceive prescription‑drug costs.

Roughly $32 million of that budget targeted searches related to insurance and health plans, while about $28 million directed users to PhRMA‑owned sites that criticize pharmacy benefit managers, which the industry says drive price increases.

Ad spending surged around major policy events, such as Medicare’s 2023 launch of drug‑price negotiations. From 2019 through 2025 the group used more than 283,500 distinct keywords, generating 17.1 million paid visits.

The findings come from a data‑driven analysis that modeled the ad spend, underscoring the scale of the lobbying effort in the digital space.