The pharmaceutical industry largely snubbed Democrats when it came to doling out campaign contributions last year after the Democrat-controlled Legislature passed a bill to increase drug-pricing transparency in June.

Only four Democrats — two members of Assembly leadership and the chairs of the Assembly and Senate health committees — received any contributions from the industry last year while 19 received industry contributions in 2016. By contrast, 19 Republican lawmakers and candidates and four Republican PACs or committees received donations from pharmaceutical companies in 2017, roughly comparable to 2016 trends.

The $17,000 in pharmaceutical donations Democrats received represented about 1 percent of the more than $1.4 million the industry spent in Nevada in 2017. Republicans received 67 percent of the industry’s contributions, while the remaining 32 percent went toward funding the industry’s opposition, through the Healthy Nevada PAC, to the insulin pricing transparency bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Yvanna Cancela in 2017. (The final bill had GOP state Sen. Michael Roberson’s name on it after a last-minute compromise.)

The Republican State Leadership Committee — which typically doles out hefty sums to Republican groups and candidates or directly pays for advertising and polling expenses itself — received the most contributions from the industry last year, with the donations representing a little more than a tenth of its $7.4 million overall haul. All committee’s expenditures last year, about $1.2 million, were directed toward three campaigns to recall Democratic Sens. Joyce Woodhouse and Nicole Cannizzaro and Independent Sen. Patricia Farley, who caucused with the Democrats.

In total, the committee took in $914,000 from 16 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies last year, or 63 percent of the total money the pharmaceutical industry spent in Nevada in 2017. That’s comparable to the $906,000 it received from the industry in 2016, a sum that also represented about a tenth of its overall fundraising total that year.

The Nevada State Democratic Party appears to have only received one contribution from the pharmaceutical industry since 2011, though individual Democrats have received industry contributions over the years. The drug industry lobby group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, gave $50,000 to the party in 2014.

Other smaller Republican and Democratic groups have received smaller pharmaceutical industry donations over the years, including the Assembly Democratic Caucus, the Assembly Republican Caucus, the Democratic Governors Association’s Nevada account, the Nevada Senate Democrats, former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund and the Senate Republican Leadership Conference.

AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company that makes the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor, gave $200,000 to the Republican Senate Leadership Committee in 2017, the largest pharmaceutical contribution and the fourth-largest contribution the committee received last year. The Japanese company Astellas gave $140,000, the U.S.-based biotech company Genentech gave $100,000 and the Irish speciality pharmaceutical company Horizon Pharma gave $75,000.

The donations to the committee — which, unlike contributions to lawmakers, are not subject to blackouts during the legislative session — do not appear to specifically correlate with the timeline of the pharmaceutical transparency bill, which Republicans were slow to warm to during the 2017 session. The first pharmaceutical industry check the committee received in 2017 was from Astellas on March 10, four days before the bill was introduced, with a second $25,000 contribution from the American pharmaceutical company Vertex on March 21. The rest of the donations came post-session, scattered over the last six months of the year.

Whether or not a lawmaker voted for the pharmaceutical pricing transparency bill didn’t seem to make or break whether he or she received industry donations in 2017. All Assembly Democrats, including two who received industry contributions this year, voted for the two versions of the bill that came before them, while all Assembly Republicans voted the measure down twice. In the Senate, all Democrats and most Republicans supported both versions of the bill, with only two dissenting Republican “no” votes each time.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, who voted for the bill, actually received the most money from the industry of any individual lawmaker in 2017, though the $8,250 he took in from five companies is still relatively small change in the fundraising game in Nevada, where the maximum contribution is $10,000 per donor. Assembly Health and Human Services Committee Chair Mike Sprinkle, another “yes” vote, also made the top 10 list, raising $3,250.

Still, Democrats received far fewer pharmaceutical donations last year over 2016. Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford brought in $12,000, retiring Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams took in $10,750 and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson took in $7,250 in 2016. None of the three received any industry donations this year.

Senator Ben Kieckhefer, who voted against the final iteration of the bill, received the most money from the industry of any Republican lawmaker, $6,500, followed closely by Sen. Joe Hardy, a doctor by trade who voted against both versions of the bill, who brought in $6,250. Three Republicans who voted for the bill — Heidi Gansert, James Settelmeyer and Becky Harris — all received industry contributions.

Wes Duncan, the Republican candidate for attorney general, brought in the most from the industry of any 2018 candidate, $8,500, while Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Republican gubernatorial candidate, took in one lump sum of $3,500.

Below, you can find all pharmaceutical donations made to lawmakers and candidates totaled by individual businesses. As always, if you find anything that seems to be missing or off, feel free to email us at [email protected].

TOP 10 PHARMA MONEY RECIPIENTS:

1. Republican State Leadership Committee: $914,000
2. Attorney General candidate Wes Duncan: $8,500
3. Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson: $8,250
4. Sen. Ben Kieckhefer: $6,500 (including $1,250 to his PAC)
5. Sen. Joe Hardy: $6,250 (including $1,250 to his PAC)
6. Assemblyman James Oscarson: $5,000
7. Gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Adam Laxalt: $3,500
8. Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle, 2017 chair of the Assembly health committee: $3,250
9. Assemblyman Chris Edwards: $3,000
10. Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler: $2,850

PhRMA, a trade group representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States: $474,000

• $455,000 to their Healthy Nevada PAC
• $2,000 to Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R)
• $2,000 to Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D)
• $2,000 to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler (R)
• $2,000 to Senator Joe Hardy (R)
• $2,000 to Assemblyman James Oscarson (R)
• $1,500 to the Growth & Opportunity PAC, which supports Assembly Republicans
• $1,500 to Assemblywoman Robin Titus (R)
• $1,500 to Assemblyman Chris Edwards (R)
• $1,500 to Assemblyman John Hambrick (R)
• $1,000 to Assemblyman James Marchant (R)
• $1,000 to Assemblyman Keith Pickard (R)
• $1,000 to Assemblywoman Jill Tolles (R)

AstraZeneca, an English and Swedish pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company: $200,000

• $200,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Astellas Pharma, a Japanese pharmaceutical company: $140,000

• $140,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Genentech, a U.S.-based biotechnology company, now a subsidiary of the swiss company Roche: $100,000

• $100,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Horizon Pharma, an Irish pharmaceutical company with subsidiaries in the United States: $75,000

• $75,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, an American pharmaeceutical company: $75,000

• $75,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Mylan, an American generic and speciality pharmaceutical company: $50,000

• $50,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical comapny: $50,000

• $50,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a Japanese pharmaceutical company and the largest in Japan and Asian: $45,000

• $45,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Pfizer, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company: $35,000

• $6,500 to Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D)
• $5,000 to former First Assistant Attorney General Wes Duncan, running for attorney general (R)
• $3,000 to Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle (D)
• $2,500 to Assemblyman James Oscarson (R)
• $2,500 to Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D)
• $2,500 to Senator Joe Hardy (R)
• $2,500 to Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R)
• $1,500 to Assemblywoman Jill Tolles (R)
• $1,500 to Assemblyman Chris Edwards (R)
• $1,500 to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler (R)
• $1,250 to A Bolder Nevada, Senator Joe Hardy’s PAC (R)
• $1,250 to NV Majority PAC, Senator Ben Kieckhefer’s PAC (R)
• $1,000 to Assemblyman James Marchant (R)
• $1,000 to Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury (R)
• $750 to Senator Heidi Gansert (R)
• $750 to Senator Pat Spearman (D)

Gilead Sciences, an American biopharmaceutical company: $35,000

• $35,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Johnson & Johnson, a U.S.-based packaged goods, medical device and pharmaceutical company: $28,950

• $25,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee
• $750 to Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D)
• $750 to Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, running for lieutenant governor (R)
• $500 to Senator Joe Hardy (R)
• $350 to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler (R)
• $350 to Senator James Settelmeyer (R)
• $250 to Assemblywoman Robin Titus (R)
• $250 to Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle (D)
• $250 to Senator Becky Harris, now Gaming Control Board chair (R)
• $250 to Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R)
• $250 to Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D)

Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company: $25,000

• $25,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Sunovion, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical owned by Japanese pharmaceutical company Sumitomo Dainippon: $25,000

• $25,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Amgen, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA: $18,500

• $17,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee
• $1,000 to Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler (R)
• $500 to Senator James Settelmeyer (R)

Biogen, an American biotechnology company: $15,000

• $15,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Biotechnology Innovation Organization,the largest trade organization representing the biotechnology industry: $13,000

• $13,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Celgene, an American biotechnology company: $12,000

• $12,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Roche Diagnostics Corporation, the diagnostic division of Swiss healthcare company Hoffmann-La Roche: $12,000

• $12,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee

Mallinckrodt, a British specialty pharmaceutical company: $9,500

• $3,500 to Attorney General Adam Laxalt, running for governor (R)
• $3,500 to former First Assistant Attorney General Wes Duncan, running for attorney general (R)
• $2,500 to Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske (R)

GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company: $2,000

• $500 to Senator Ben Kieckhefer (R)
• $500 to Assemblyman James Oscarson (R)
• $500 to Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D)
• $500 to former Assembly Minority Leader Paul Anderson (R)

Allergan, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Dublin: $500

• $500 to Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D)