What If Trump Keeps Badmouthing Drug Pricing?

Pharmaceutical companies breathed a sigh of relief when Donald Trump prevailed on Election Day. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, had made prescription drug pricing a centerpiece of her campaign.

However, according to Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson, pharma stocks may not be off the hook when Trump moves into the White House.

In a Time "Person Of The Year" profile, Trump was quoted as saying he will bring down drug prices. He didnt provide any details about what exactly he plans to do, but the quote was enough to send the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) (NASDAQ:IBB) down 3.9 percent on Wednesday.

Anderson believes Trump will continue to be a wildcard for pharma stocks.

However, despite Trumps unpredictability, Anderson still feels the elections outcome is good news for pharma investors.

The republican sweep in November was a materially positive event, in our view, for therapeutics companies, he wrote.

Bernstein named Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) its two top stock picks in the space. Anderson sees strong growth and no binary event risk at Novartis and predicts better-than-expected tactical maneuvering from Merck management.

The firm also has Overweight ratings on Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (OTC:RHHBY).

Image Credit: By Michael Vadon (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons