AbbVie has left Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), according to multiple media reports Thursday.

Politico first reported that the pharmaceutical giant exited the two influential healthcare trade associations and that PhRMA confirmed that AbbVie did not renew its membership. 

“We regularly evaluate our memberships with industry trade associations and our most recent assessment led us to decide not to renew our membership with select trade associations,” an AbbVie spokesperson said in an email to Politico. 

Reuters later confirmed that AbbVie has left the two industry groups as well as the Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit lobby group whose members are CEOs of some of the largest companies in the U.S.

PhRMA and BIO have long held significant sway in the healthcare legislative process in D.C. and count many large companies as members, including Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk, among others. 

Notably, the work of PhRMA has been seen in the shaping of the Affordable Care Act as well as in the public back-and-forths with the Trump administration amid its efforts to enact the Most Favored Nation Model and the Medicare Part D rebate rule 

Now, the drug industry lobby is gearing up for the implementation of drug-pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that was passed over the summer, marking a significant defeat for the pharmaceutical industry.

The $740 billion bill provides the federal government with capabilities to negotiate Medicare prices for certain expensive drugs and caps out-of-pocket prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 starting in 2025.

A recent report found from the Department of Health and Human Services found that prices for more than 1,200 prescription drugs rose faster than inflation in the past year. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said he expects the drug-pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act will temper those price increases in the future. 

The reports were published just over a week after AbbVie signed a $40 million collaboration with HotSpot Therapeutics for its discovery-stage IRF5 program, which treats autoimmune diseases.
It’s AbbVie’s second major M&A play of the fall, having acquired DJS Antibodies in October for $255 million as a way to expand its immunology portfolio.

To read a May 2024 article about BIO undergoing significant restructuring and laying off execs amid industry woes, click here.