Election 2008 a win-win for BIO

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. At a media briefing yesterday, Jim Greenwood, president and chief executive of BIO, evaluated the impact either Barack Obama or John McCain would have if elected. "Both said pretty good things about biotechnology, and both support embryonic stem cell research," Greenwood said, "and both want to move from an ideological to a science-based policy, and both support more funding for the FDA."

That last point is of particular importance to the industry. The FDA--which is chronically underfunded and understaffed compared to the agency's considerable tasks--needs more support in order to speed up the review and approval of new drugs. That's of vital importance to BIO, whose members have seen a significant decline in new drug approvals over the last year and a half. "The bottom line is we have to help the next administration achieve healthcare reform," said BIO chairman Joshua Boger said. The best way to do that is to quickly bring groundbreaking drugs to the market--therapies that could revolutionize disease treatment and cut medical costs.

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