Big Pharma has ponied up big bucks to help finance the Democratic National Convention--and the companies have sent their CEOs to Denver to put their mouths where their money is.
The list of health-oriented sponsors reads like a roll call of drugmakers: Merck, Amgen, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Mylan, Abbott and Eli Lilly. Five of those companies--Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Amgen and Merck--have put CEO power behind their cash. AstraZeneca and Lilly dispatched their CEOs--David Brennan (photo [1]) and John Lechleiter (photo [2]), respectively--to receptions and luncheons the companies sponsored. Pfizer's Jeff Kindler (photo [3]) and Amgen's Kevin Sharer (photo [4]) participated in a health roundtable. And at a PhRMA-sponsored brunch, Merck CEO Richard Clark (photo [5]) and AstraZeneca's Brennan mingled with the invitation-only crowd.
And tonight, when Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination, Pfizer folks will be on hand in coveted skybox seats reserved for those donors who've given more than $1 million. Let's see who turns up for John McCain's Republican star turn next week.
- read the WSJ Health Blog post [6]
- see the FDA Legislative Watch piece [7]
- get the skybox article [8] from the Dallas Morning News
Related Articles:
Pharma for Obama, but neither candidate loves pharma [9]
Dems still in the pharma-contribution lead [10]
Dems beat out Republicans for life sciences cash [11]
Pharma backs Barack with money, votes [12]
The 2008 Election: What does it mean for drugmakers? [13]
Obama, McCain united against drug costs [14]
Pharma backs Dems 51 to 49 [15]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/astrazenecas-david-brennan-ceo-pay
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/pages/eli-lilly-ceo-john-c-lechleiter
[3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/pfizers-jeffrey-kindler-ceo-pay
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/amgen-ceo-kevin-sharer-ceo-pay-report
[5] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/mercks-richard-clark-ceo-pay
[6] http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/08/27/health-industry-pours-money-into-democratic-convention/
[7] http://www.fdalegislativewatch.com/2008/08/at-democratic-a.html
[8] http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/082508dnpolskyboxenvy.4271884.html
[9] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/pharma-funds-obama-neither-candidate-loves-pharma/2008-08-18?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&cmp-id=EMC-NL-FP&dest=FP
[10] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/dems-still-pharma-contribution-lead/2008-05-22
[11] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/dems-beat-out-republicans-life-sciences-cash/2008-06-25
[12] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/pharma-backs-barack-with-money-votes/2008-04-25?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss&cmp-id=OTC-RSS-FP
[13] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/2008-election-what-does-it-mean-drugmakers/2008-02-06
[14] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/obama-and-mccain-united-war-big-pharma-drugs/2008-07-16
[15] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/pharma-backs-dems-51-49/2008-02-08