US pharma industry responds to American election result

The US pharmaceutical industry has responded to the result of the country’s recent election. With Joe Biden announced as the new President-Elect on 7 November 2020, the pharma industry in the US has emphasised the need to work with the government to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) made the following statement on the 2020 election: “We are committed to working with the new administration and Congress to win the fight against COVID-19 and battle the most critical ongoing health challenges facing the US and the world. Our nation and the world face an unprecedented public health crisis and the research-based biopharmaceutical industry is working around the clock to develop therapeutics and vaccines to treat and prevent COVID-19. We look forward to working with policymakers and regulators to put COVID-19 behind us, to advance policies that lower patient costs and to sustain and protect a robust innovation ecosystem that makes it possible to develop new medicines.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, drug pricing issues and healthcare representing major issues that the candidates had to discuss, the pharma industry in the US had a vested interest in who would win the Presidency. 

Having backed Biden, the Democratic candidate, the pharma industry in the US shifted its support from the Republican party, according to Drug Discovery & Development. The outlet highlights that since 1990, Republican candidates have received 64 percent of pharma industry contributions. However, OpenSecrets highlights that for this election, the Democrats received 87.3 percent of contributions from the pharmaceutical industry with Biden’s campaign getting $11,305,975 while the Republicans got 12.6 percent overall and Donald Trump received $2,192,233.