Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has launched an advertising blitz to improve the public image of their industry, which has taken a beating in the last year as controversies surrounded rising drug prices, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

PhRMA will spend 10 percent more on advertising this year than in 2015, using digital, radio and print ads to emphasize the role of the industry in developing new drugs and advancing medical science, according to the newspaper. That increase translates into millions of additional dollars—much of it on ads targeting state and federal lawmakers as well as other government decision makers.

PhRMA's move comes amid calls by sitting lawmakers and political candidates to pass legislation to rein in drug prices. It also comes after a year of embarrassments for the pharmaceutical industry, from the decision by "Pharma Bro" Martin Shrekli to raise the price of a potentially life-saving drug by hundreds of dollars per pill, to the American Medical Association's call for a ban on drug ads targeted at consumers.

In launching its ad campaign, PhRMA wants to "make sure the patient story is front-and-center in any discussion of the biopharmaceutical industry and drug costs," said Robert Zirkelbach, senior vice president of communications at the association.

PhRMA has already started running ads on CNN.com and radio stations in the Washington, D.C., area, the newspaper reported. http://on.wsj.com/1TO8pmD

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