Election 2008 means change for biopharma

Americans head to the polls today to cast their vote for the next president. No matter who gets elected, there's change in store for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The election of either candidate could be beneficial for the biotech industry. "Both said pretty good things about biotechnology, and both support embryonic stem cell research," BIO president and CEO Jim Greenwood said in September, "and both want to move from an ideological to a science-based policy, and both support more funding for the FDA."

It could be a different story for pharma, though. Both McCain and Obama have expressed their desire to decrease medical costs for healthcare in general and expensive meds in particular. The candidates have expressed support for generic (and biogeneric) drugs, reimportation and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Should all of these changes come to pass, the pharma industry will have to adapt to new rules and find innovative ways to expand ther business.

To get up to speed on the candidates and their policies, here's a look back at our Election 2008 coverage.

• Big pharma, big politicking [1] (October 29, 2008)
  Whether we see Obama or McCain become the next U.S. president, the message is clear: The pharmaceutical industry can expect whoever wins to find ways to cut drug prices and to be far less friendly to the industry overall.
• Obama plan could whack Big Pharma [2] (October 24, 2008)
  Big Pharma may have been buttering up the Democrats lately with big campaign contributions, but Barack Obama's healthcare plan looks primed to hit drugmakers.
• Pharma's pragmatic shift to Democrats [3] (October 14, 2008)
  Pharma companies gave the Dems 49 percent of their $20 million in contributions for the 2008 election, compared with 31 percent in 2000 and 2006, 26 percent in 2002 and 34 percent in 2004. That's an increase of 15 percentage points or more.
• Pharma continues Democratic shift [4] (September 23, 2008)
  The force behind pharma's leftward shift comes not from ideology but from market pressures. According to Politico, it's all about growth in federal healthcare programs.
• Election 2008 a win-win for BIO [5] (September 4, 2008)
  BIO--the industry's trade organization--isn't supporting a particular candidate in this coming election. Why? Because no matter who wins, the industry can look forward to a level of support it hasn't experienced in the last eight years.
• Pharma for Obama, but neither candidate loves pharma [6] (August 18, 2008)
  McCain and Obama strongly support generics, including getting them to market faster and promoting their inclusion in trade agreements with developing countries. They also support government negotiation of medications included in Medicare plans, re-importation and price controls
• The 2008 Election: What does it mean for drugmakers? [7] (February 6, 2008)
  The winner of the 2008 election will be faced with making key decisions on a number of issues important to drug developers. Here's a look at the front-runners' stance on several topics vital to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.