Big Pharma Places Its Money on Romney to Win the Election

Here's an update on the political contributions of the health/pharmaceutical industry according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

To date, the total contributions - based on contributions from PACs, soft money donors, and individuals giving $200 or more - is $13,782,133, which is up by about 16% from the $12 million reported in August (see "Is Pharma Republican or Democrat? Follow the Money & Find Out"). 58% of that went to Republicans and 42% went to Democrats. In the 2008 election, it was 51% vs. 49%, Republicans vs. Democrats.

Can it be said that "As goes Big Pharma, so goes America?" Time will tell. But if money is the determining factor, Obama is destined to be a one-term president.

Here are updated charts with details about the donations of the top 20 pharma contributors (click here for source):

To make it easier to see which pharma company employees/PACs are "Republican" and which are "Democrat," I prepared this chart from the table above (click on image for an enlarged view).

There are several decidedly "Republicans" in the Big Pharma group, including Abbott, Astrazeneca, and Eli Lilly and a few so-so "Democrats": Pfizer, Amgen, and Merck.