Top PhRMA lobbyist starts new firm

PhRMA chief lobbyist Bryant Hall has left the pharmaceutical industry trade group to head Rubicon Strategies, a new health care lobbying shop owned by the Tiber Creek Group.

As PhRMA’s top lobbyist, Hall, was deeply involved in the health care reform debate and was one of the chief architects of the deal that the industry cut with the White House and Senate Democrats to pay at least $90 billion in drug discounts and other givebacks in exchange for avoiding unwanted policies like drug re-importation. Hall also oversaw PhRMA’s political program, which spent $25 million last year to protect its friends in Congress.

“This gave me the best opportunity to build a substantial practice with people that I know and respect,” Hall told POLITICO Tuesday.

Indeed, Hall, 43, will land in familiar company at Tiber Creek, which owns the lobbying shops Peck, Madigan, Jones and Stewart; Bay Bridge Strategies; the Ickes and Enright Group, and now, Rubicon Strategies. PMJ was one of PhRMA’s top-paid consultants last year, and Hall is close with partners Jonathon Jones and John Michael Gonzalez.

“As someone who managed a large consultant budget at PhRMA, very large, they were always regarded by PhRMA companies and PhRMA as a top consulting company,” Hall said of PMJ.

Hall, who’ll be president of Rubicon, said he’s close to signing five pharmaceutical clients and will expand his client list into other health care sectors. Rubicon will also service the clients of other Tiber Creek companies.

“We wanted to make sure that we were able to provide the best quality service to our existing clients and position ourselves to continue to grow in the health care space,” Jones said. “The goal was to … provide the kind of service that the best health care firms provide at a firm that does a lot more than health care.”

After record spending during last year’s health care reform battle, some health industry insiders say they have started trimming their lobbying budgets. Bringing Hall on to head Rubicon is a play by Tiber Creek to expand its imprint in a changing market.

“We didn’t want him to set up his own shop and compete with us,” said PMJ partner Peter Madigan. “What Rubicon does is it gives us another brand, it allows us to penetrate one of the most important and growing businesses here in Washington, D.C., which is health care.”

PMJ recently hired Andrew McKechnie, a former health policy adviser to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

(source:politico.com)