Next US President: no "safe" candidate

The recent developments in the US presidential primary process to find the candidates for November's election have left "no 'safe' candidate for the pharmaceutical industry," according to Lehman Brothers. Although two minor candidates remain in the race for the Republican party's nomination, it seems only a matter of time before Senator John McCain (Arizona) wins, following the resignation of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

The latter was both the promoter of a mandatory health insurance scheme in Massachusetts, which has recently experienced financial difficulties (Marketletter February 11), as well as being the only candidate in this election to defend the drug industry in public.

On the Democratic party's side, both candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton (New York) and Barack Obama (Illinois) hold largely identical views on health care reform, legalizing the use of federal funds for human embryonic stem cell research and drug reimportation from Canada (Marketletters passim). This is also likely to be the first time two current Senators have contested a presidential election in US history.