Illumina, early cancer-screening startup ramped up lobbying amid merger pressure

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman 

UNDER PRESSURE: Ahead of last week’s vote by federal antitrust regulators to reject DNA sequencer Illumina’s acquisition of the early cancer detection startup Grail, lobbying spending by both companies surged to record levels, according to a PI analysis of disclosures.

— Grail, which aims to develop a test that can screen for multiple kinds of cancer in the bloodstream early enough in the process for successful treatment, launched initially as a unit of Illumina before the biotech company spun Grail off into its own entity in 2017. Grail raised billions of dollars from investors including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amazon and Tencent, the Chinese company behind chat app WeChat.

— Illumina, which had retained a minority stake in the startup, moved to bring Grail back into the fold in 2020, an acquisition that was challenged by both the FTC and European antitrust regulators. The deal went forward despite those reservations, and last year an administrative law judge sided with Illumina. In a unanimous decision issued last week and unsealed Monday, FTC commissioners sought to reverse the judge’s ruling and ordered Illumina to divest Grail.

— Over the past few years as the merger has played out, both Grail and Illumina dramatically ramped up their influence efforts in Washington. The companies spent a combined $9.4 million on lobbying last year, disclosures show — mainly on health care issues related to their products, but also in support of the merger.

— Illumina’s 2022 lobbying expenditures of $6.3 million were roughly double what it spent the year before, and almost 10 times the $640,000 it dropped in 2019, the year before it moved to acquire Grail. Illumina’s bench of lobbyists includes former Sen. Saxby Chambliss and former Rep. Jim Greenwood, who are now at DLA Piper and former aides to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and more.

— Grail also quickly built out its lobbying operation, signing up eight outside firms and an in-house lobbying team in 2020 and spending $1.2 million. Last year, Grail’s lobbying outlays topped $3 million, and the firm retains 9 outside lobbying shops, including Forbes Tate Partners, Miller Strategies, Ballard Spahr, Todd Strategy Group and Avenue Solutions.

— The biotech firms found defenders in Congress. Last year, after EU antitrust officials split from their U.S. counterpart and blocked the merger, lawmakers from both parties pushed the Biden administration to defend the American companies, with members from the Congressional Cancer Caucus arguing that unwinding the acquisition could threaten President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot initiative.

— In its decision last week, FTC “said Illumina is expected to remain the primary supplier for the gene-sequencing machines needed to conduct multi-cancer screening tests that Grail is pursuing,” according to The Wall Street Journal’s Peter Loftus and Jonathan D. Rockoff. “The commission also said Illumina has strong financial incentives to ensure that Grail outperforms competitors, and that Illumina could easily raise costs for those competitors or take other steps to impede their competitiveness.” The dispute is now likely to move to federal court.

Welcome to April and welcome to PI. Send your best K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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NEW BUSINESS: The Business Roundtable and ​PhRMA — a couple of K Street’s top spenders — have added new outside lobbying firepower, according to newly filed disclosures. Bose Public Affairs’ Roger Harvey began lobbying for drugmakers at the beginning of the year on health care reform and biopharmaceutical and life sciences issues, a disclosure filed Monday shows.

— The addition of Harvey, a strategic comms expert, came amid wider advocacy shakeup at the pharmaceuticals lobby in the wake of the industry’s crushing defeat in failing to block drug pricing measures in the Inflation Reduction Act.

— PhRMA, which spent over $29 million on federal lobbying in 2022, parted ways with three of its outside firms at the end of the year — two of which had ties to the White House. PhRMA still has 30 firms on retainer, not including Bose Public Affairs, as the drug industry wages a public affairs war with pharmacy benefit managers (whose main trade group is another Bose client).

— The Business Roundtable, meanwhile, hired a team of lobbyists at S-3 Group with ties to new leaders in both chambers of Congress. Marty Reiser, who served as policy director for new House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and was a top staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Matt Bravo, who served as Scalise’s director of floor operations, are working on tax, trade, health care and economic issues for the business executives’ group, which spent more than $20 million on lobbying last year and retains a dozen other outside firms.

— S-3 Group’s Olivia Kurtz, who joined the firm after working as chief of staff to new Senate Appropriations ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine), will also work on the account.

THE RETURN OF HANSJÖRG WYSS: “The Berger Action Fund is a nondescript name for a group with a rather specific purpose: steering the wealth of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire, into the world of American politics and policy,” The Associated Press’ Brian Slodysko reports.

— “As a foreign national, Wyss is prohibited from donating to candidates or political committees. But his influence is still broadly felt through millions of dollars routed through a network of nonprofit groups that invest heavily in the Democratic ecosystem. Such groups don’t have to disclose the source of their funding — or many details about how they spend it.”

— “Newly available tax documents show that his giving through the Berger Action Fund, which describes itself as advocating for ‘solutions to some of our world’s biggest problems,’ swelled in 2021 to $72 million, cementing Wyss’ status as a Democratic-aligned megadonor.”

— “Representatives for Wyss insist they comply with laws governing the giving of foreign nationals and have put in place strict policies limiting the use of donations to ‘issue advocacy’ — not partisan electoral activities. But the fact that the money cannot be publicly traced highlights the difficulty of putting such assertions to the test.”

— “Those same groups have helped to bankroll efforts to lift President Joe Biden’s agenda and paid for TV ads promoting Democratic congressional candidates ahead of last year’s midterm elections.”

AG STAFFER RETURNS TO CORNERSTONE: Fred Clark is heading back to Cornerstone Government Affairs after his latest stint on the congressional agriculture committees. Clark spent a decade with the firm from 2003 to 2013, and most recently served as chief counsel for Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee before retiring last year. Earlier in his career, Clark worked for 10 years as a staffer on the House Agriculture Committee, rising to become deputy chief counsel.

— Clark’s return to Cornerstone comes as Congress embarks on its latest farm bill push. In addition to contributing to the 2018 farm bill (and multiple others before that), a grain standards reauthorization and disaster supplementals, Clark also ran point on committee Republicans’ procedural challenges to Democrats’ reconciliation proposals.

ICYMI MONDAY — ACTBLUE HIT BY LAYOFFS: “ActBlue, the fundraising platform widely used by Democratic politicians and organizations, said Monday that it will be reducing its workforce by roughly one-sixth, citing the need to control costs and restructure,” POLITICO’s Jessica Piper reports, making the platform the latest political group hit by layoffs in recent months.

— “The affected employees at ActBlue are primarily in non-technical roles, the company said, and outgoing staff will be offered eight weeks pay and benefits. In a statement, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones — who took the helm at the organization earlier this year — said she expected ActBlue to continue to support strong fundraising for Democrats and progressives.”

— The platform’s job cuts elicited pushback from its employee unions, one of which ratified a contract in February. The ActBlue Union “said 32 of 54 employees laid off were members of its union” and claimed “the organization had refused to explore alternatives to layoffs such as pay cuts, and called on the organization to not pursue further layoffs.”

— The company, which reported processing more than $3.5 billion worth of donations for Democrats and progressive groups during last year’s midterms, “said it was committed to working with both unions in accordance with ‘contractual and bargaining obligations.’"

SPOTTED at the Center for Democracy & Technology’s annual “Spring Fling” on the sidelines of the International Association of Privacy Professionals' privacy summit, per a tipster: Drew Bagley of CrowdStrike, Sharon Bradford Franklin of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Avery Gardiner of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, Alan Butler of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Alexandra Givens of CDT, Travis Hall of NTIA, Katie Harbath of the Integrity Institute, Lisa Hone of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cam Kerry of Brookings, Janis Kestenbaum of Perkins Coie, Graham Mudd of Anonym, Sean Perryman and Uttara Sivaram of Uber, Chris Soghoian of Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) office and Ashkan Soltani of the California Privacy Protection Agency.

— Felice Stadler is joining the Audubon Society to lead its federal lobbying efforts as vice president of government affairs. She most recently served as vice president for political affairs at Environmental Defense Fund.

— Amelia Fox has joined the Progressive Policy Institute as its national press secretary. She is a Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Cheri Beasley alum.

— Brad Bondi has joined Paul Hastings as a partner in the D.C. office and global co-chair of the firm’s investigations and white collar defense practice. He most recently chaired the white collar and government investigations practice at Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

— Jennifer Kerber is now senior director of government affairs at Socure. She previously was a director at Guidehouse and is a Grant Thornton alum.

— The National Venture Capital Association is adding Christina Martin as chief operating officer. She was previously senior vice president for global communications and public affairs for the Internet Association and is a SIFMA and CTIA alum.

— Aliya Manjee is now a director in Qorvis’ Washington office. She previously was counsel for the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee.

— Steve Biegun will be senior vice president of global public policy at Boeing. He most recently was an adviser at Macro Advisory Partners and previously was deputy secretary of State.

— The Independent Community Bankers of America has hired Sam Mayper as vice president of congressional relations. Mayper was previously a legislative assistant for former Rep. Carolyn Maloney.

— Brad Hantler has launched Woodcreek Enterprises, a public affairs and political fundraising firm. He most recently was senior vice president at MO Strategies, and also led national fundraising for super PACs supporting Blake Masters’ and John James’ Senate runs.

— Lindsay Slater is joining Trout Unlimited as vice president for government affairs. He previously was longtime chief of staff for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).

— David Watkins is the new director of government affairs for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ climate and energy program, Morning Energy reports. He recently retired as staff director for the House Natural Resources Democrats after more than 20 years with the committee.

— Phillip Levin is now director of the National Nature Assessment at the U.S. Global Change Research Program, per ME. He previously served as lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy in Washington state and a professor of practice at the University of Washington.

— Jacqueline Gelb will serve as the American Trucking Associations’ vice president of energy and environmental affairs. Gelb was previously vice president of government relations at Navistar Inc. Before joining Navistar, she was chief policy adviser to then-Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on issues including energy, the environment and transportation.

None.

IHG Six Continents Hotels, Inc. Political Action Committee (IHG PAC) (PAC)
US-Africa Trade and Civic Relations (PAC)

Baker & Hostetler LLP: Blue Owl Capital Inc.
Baker & Hostetler LLP: Change Home Mortgage
Bose Public Affairs Group: Pharmaceutical Research And Manufacturers Of America
Fgs Global (US) LLC (Fka Fgh Holdings LLC): Amp Americas Ii, LLC
Guide Consulting Services, Inc.: Lifeline International Incorporated
Hance Scarborough: Crius Technology Group
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Freshair Sensors
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Ginkgo Bioworks
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Invariant Corporation
Hwl Aerospace Policy, LLC: Elwell & Associates LLC (On Behalf Of Flightsafety International)
Liebman & Associates, Inc.: Lyondellbasell
Liebman & Associates, Inc.: Unilever United States
Mclarty Inbound LLC: Maurel & Prom
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Mellon Financial Services Corportation #1
Nathaniel Ashton: The Dcode Group, Inc.
Republic Consulting, LLC: Gravity Diagnostics
Republic Consulting, LLC: Parkervision, Inc.
Republic Consulting, LLC: Saic
Richard J. Leidl, P.C.: City Of Midland, Texas
S-3 Group: Alliance Of Community Health Plans
S-3 Group: The Business Roundtable, Inc.
Steve Petersen & Associates: Verdego Aero
Tiber Creek Group: Agilon Health, Inc.
Tiber Creek Group: Nusano, Inc.
Van Scoyoc Associates: University Of Nevada, Las Vegas
Washington Alliance Group, Inc.: Axellio, Inc.

A1.9 Strategies LLC: O'Brien, Gentry, And Scott LLC Obo Dsg Technology
American Political Science Association: American Political Science Association
Bose Public Affairs Group: We Work For Health
Celo Foundation: Celo Foundation
Congressional Solutions, Inc (Csi): Vrc
Duffy&Shanley: At&T
Foley Hoag LLP: Federation Of American Hospitals
Hannegan Landau Poersch & Rosenbaum Advocacy, LLC: Blackrock, Inc.
Hannegan Landau Poersch & Rosenbaum Advocacy, LLC: Lacuna Technologies, Inc.
Hannegan Landau Poersch & Rosenbaum Advocacy, LLC: Tusk Strategies, LLC On Behalf Of Lactalogics, Inc.
Huawei Technologies USa Inc.: Huawei Technologies USa Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: International Housing Coalition
K&L Gates, LLP: Launch On Demand Corporation
K&L Gates, LLP: Masten Space Systems
Lemunyon Group, LLC: Huawei Technologies USa Inc.
Liebman & Associates, Inc.: Jacobs Engineering
Policy Development Group: Kindermorgan
Sarah Blackwood Government Relations, LLC: Novelis Inc.
The Majority Group, LLC: Superior Optical
Torres Consulting And Law Group: Ua Local 598
Venn Strategies: Einride

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