As election nears, pharma hedges campaign contribution bets
As election nears, pharma hedges campaign contribution bets
Another election season is well underway for the American public, with the presidential race now seemingly between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. With the ramp-up of the campaign season come donations from thousands of interested parties, and, unsurprisingly, political action committees and individuals with ties to the pharma industry have been among those contributing millions to campaigns.
“I think any industry is looking at who could potentially win, who will have the most influence over drug policy or other industry policy, and I think that they’re making those calculations,” Erin Delaney, director of health care policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, told BioSpace.
BioSpace examined campaign data from Open Secrets to see how individuals and political action committees tied to the pharma industry have been spending between political parties.
By the Numbers
The nonprofit transparency group Open Secrets tracks spending by pharmaceutical and health product political action committees (PACs), which have spent $12,009,986 on campaign contributions in 2023 and 2024. The 111 pharmaceutical PACs have given over $5.2 million to Democrats, while around $6.6 million has gone to Republicans thus far in 2023 and 2024.
The top lobbying client in the pharma manufacturing sector is the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which has a lobbying budget of over $16.9 million. Pfizer is second with $6 million available, followed by Merck, Novartis and Eli Lilly with $5.2 million, $4.6 million, and $4.4 million in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
According to Open Secrets, pharmaceutical companies have long been significant political spenders and have conventionally supported Republican candidates. Since the 1990 election cycle, Republicans have received around 64% of the average industry contributions.
However, looking at donations to the presidential race, Harris has been the top recipient of dollars from employees of pharmaceutical manufacturers, with well over $369,000 in 2023 and 2024. This is in stark contrast to Trump, who has only received around $182,000 from these donors in the same period.
