Bloomberg Becomes Top Spender on Political Ads: Campaign Update
Bloomberg’s presidential campaign bought an additional $25.2 million on television advertising on Monday.
(Bloomberg) -- Michael Bloomberg is now the top spender on political commercials this year, outpacing fellow billionaire Tom Steyer and other candidates who have been in the presidential race for months.
Bloomberg’s presidential campaign bought an additional $25.2 million on television advertising on Monday. He joined the Democratic 2020 campaign on Nov. 24.
The former New York mayor has spent $89 million airing commercials on broadcast, cable and digital formats, data collected by Advertising Analytics shows, more than the $65 million that Steyer has spent. President Donald Trump, who doesn’t face a primary opponent, has spent about $34 million so far.
Bloomberg set a record by spending $33 million in one week when he began airing ads in late November, eclipsing the previous mark of $24.9 million in the final week of the 2012 campaign by former President Barack Obama’s campaign.
The new ads will run from Dec. 10 through Dec. 22. The total buy for that period might rise to $30 million, Advertising Analytics projects.
Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.
Sanders Seeks Denial of Gilead Patent Extension (12:51 p.m.)
Bernie Sanders and his ally, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are pressing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject Gilead Sciences Inc.’s request for extension of two patents for an improved HIV medication, alleging the company was “deceitful and immoral” because they say it delayed the new drug’s introduction so it could continue making profits from an older product.
In a letter to the patent office, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez pointed to recent accusations that the company sought to continue profiting from its older medication marketed under the trade names “Truvada” and “Viread,” while it delayed introduction of what AIDS activists say would be a far more potent treatment.
When the company applied for the patent extension, the two wrote in a letter, “Gilead withheld information on its true motives” for halting development of the newer drug known as “Descovy,” they said. They argue that Descovy should be manufactured generically, a move that would lower costs.
Gilead spokesman Brian Plummer said the petition “lacks merit” and conflicts with the patent term-extension statute. The company, he said, “defers to that process” of the patent office. Plummer said patient safety “is of foremost importance” and rejected “any implication that Gilead delayed the development of a drug known to be safer.“
The move comes days after an HIV-prevention group called PrEP4All Collaboration filed a petition with the patent office contending the company suspended development of its newer drug to continue to get monopoly profits from older medications before their patents expired and they faced generic competition. The company also faces class action lawsuits from patients who say their health was compromised by the company’s move. The company has denied the allegations. -- Laura Litvan
COMING UP
Elizabeth Warren, Sanders and Joe Biden are scheduled to take part in town hall meetings hosted by UNITE HERE Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas Monday through Wednesday.
At least a half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates hold the final debate of 2019 in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.
(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
--With assistance from Cristin Flanagan and Laura Litvan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Allison in Washington DC at ballison14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley
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