Lessons In Political Strategy For The BIO

The November 8, 1994, election that put Republican majorities in both houses of the US Congress dramatically changed the prospects for a national health care reform, Carl Feldbaum, president of the US Biotechnology Industry Organization, told the Financial Times Biotechnology - A Revolution in the Making meeting in London. However, he added, the biotechnology industry had to exert itself politically for the first time during the debate on health care reform, and has learned some lessons which will help in its political strategy over the coming years.

The BIO learned six major lessons which will continue to shape the way the industry operates in the public policy arena, said Mr Feldbaum. These were:

- focus. For an industry such as biotechnology to have an impact on the national debate, there had to be an identification of priorities and a focus on only those topics. For biotechnology, he said, that meant the issue of price controls as these directly affect investor confidence;