Chiron’s Lobbying Efforts
 Like other U.S. companies that want to promote their business interests before powerful federal and state officials, Chiron has a policial action committee. The Chiron Corporation Employee Political Action Committee, or "C-PAC," uses employee contributions to
support candidates running for office.
Yet of C-PAC’s roughly $30,000 in 2004 contributions reported by the Federal Election Commission this spring, all appear to be from Chiron’s senior executives, and the vaccine maker’s Capitol Hill lobbyist / Vice President of Government Affairs.
| Chrion’s C-PAC 2004 F.E.C. Filings |
Chiron Executive
|
Position*
|
PAC Money
|
| Howard Pien |
President, CEO |
$5,000 |
| Marguerite Baxter |
Vice President,
Government Affairs |
$4,900 |
| William Green |
Senior Vice
President, Secretary,
and General Counsel |
$5,000 |
| Linda Short |
Vice President,
Corporate Resources |
$5,000 |
| Craig Wheeler |
President,
BioPharmaceuticals |
$5,000 |
| Bryan Walser |
Vice President,
Corporate Strategy |
$5,000 |
Note* The positions of some Chiron executives listed have changed since the time of these April 2004 political donations. The positions listed are those reported to the F.E.C. when their C-PAC donations were registered.
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As of 2004, it appears that Chiron's resident D.C. lobbyist is Marguerite Donoghue Baxter, a former Senior Director of Pharmacia Corp. (which merged with Pfizer). Baxter's official position with the company, “VP, Government Affiars”, is documented in her April 15, 2004 F.E.C. filing listing her $4,900 contribution to C-PAC.
Before becoming a lobbyist, Public Citizen reports, Baxter worked at a number of federal health care and medical research agencies: the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Only a few days before Chiron’s Fluvirin® flu vaccine was halted by British health officials because of contamination during the vaccine’s manufacturing process, East Bay Business Times reporter Susan Thomas wrote about the emerging importance of Chiron’s C-PAC money.
According to a company spokesman, the vaccine manufacturer saw “Chiron ha[ving] a much higher profile now as a player in public policy.” It would appear that Chiron’s doling out political campaign money to candidates who might have a positive influence on their billion dollar business was only logical.
Explaining the company’s decision to form and distribute PAC money, Chiron Spokesman John Gallagher told Abboot that
“We just realized we were facing a wide range of regulatory opportunities and challenges.”
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