Two drug makers will post their political contributions for public review, and shareholders of four others will consider such measures at this spring's annual meetings, a coalition of faith-based investors announced Thursday.

The changes were spurred by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility as part of its decade-long campaign to increase access to medicine. The group believes transparency of donations is important because the industry is involved in public policy debates, including prescription drug pricing and drug safety.

Information on corporate political donations is already available from federal and state Web sites, but agreements with Johnson & Johnson and Schering-Plough Corp. will make it possible for investors to see all the data in one place, said Margaret Weber, coordinator of corporate responsibility for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, part of the ICCR.

The ICCR said it is made up of 275 faith-based institutional investors, including Catholic hospitals, religious communities, foundations and pension funds for clergy, whose combined portfolios are worth about $110 billion.

Kenilworth-based Schering-Plough posted the information Thursday at the "corporate responsibility" section of its Web site. It listed donations totaling $809,726 for 2003-04 to state and federal lawmakers from 38 states. The company also agreed to detail how it determines its contributions and how the board oversees such expenditures, the ICCR said.

New Brunswick-based J&J will post the data early next year, spokesman Jeffrey J. Leebaw said.

To read the complete San Jose Mercury News story, click here.

Source: Age of Transparency