CARLO M. BUONAMICO

Managing Editor

After the sparkling wine to toast for the new year and the much-discussed forecasts on what 2017 would have brought, the first weeks of the year have clearly shown the direction we’re heading to. The future is rather misty, if not foggy, and indeed some strong signs of dramatic changes awaiting us have shaken the once-solid ground the industry relies on to grow further, especially the healthcare sector.

We are talking about the sudden changes in industrial policy-making the newly-elected United States President, Mr. Donald Trump - often referred to as the “Tycoon” - has announced. We still very much remember Mr. Trump strongly campaigning for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act while running for president, as opposed to the promises of his opponent, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, to carry on with Obama’s policies and also try to reduce drug prices significantly. Biotech and pharma stocks had rallied sharply in the wake of Trump’s Election Day victory, with companies thinking they had avoided Clinton’s much-dreaded “price gouging” policy that would have reduced their profits, whereas instead Trump seemed to be going exactly in the opposite directi ...