The 2008 Election: What does it mean for drugmakers?

The winner of the 2008 election will be faced with making key decisions on a number of issues important to drug developers. Questions as to whether there will be more federal funding for stem cell research, a faster path for biogenerics, or a change to the structure of the nation’s healthcare system will have to be addressed by the next president, and how they tackle those issues will have serious repercussions for the industry. Here’s a look at the front-runners’ stance on several topics vital to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Barack Obama supports:

• Reimportation of drugs
• Greater generic drug use by Medicare, Medicade, ect
• Establishing a government institute for comparative research between drugs.
• Allowing the government to purchase prescription drugs in bulk to reduce costs.
• Universal healthcare
• Embryonic stem cell (ESC) research

Hilary Clintion supports:

• Doubling NCI and NHC funding
• Increaseing the number of patients involved in cancer clinical trials.
• A pathway for biogenerics
• Lower prescription drug costs and universal health care
• Giving Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices
• Stricter control of drug advertising
• ESC research

John McCain supports:

• A pathway to approve biogenerics
• An increase use of generic drugs
• Reimportation of drugs
• Allowing the government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs for the Medicare Part D program
• ESC research

- see this Motley Fool article [1] for more