€28bn man top of Martin’s hit list

AMERICAN healthcare’s €28 billion man was top of Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin’s hit-list yesterday as his trade visit to drum up business continued.

Mr Martin’s visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US government’s Washington-based specialist research agency, included a meeting with NIH director Elias Zerhouni, the man in charge of the institute’s $28 billion (€22bn) annual budget.

Dr Herzouni’s organisation covers 27 separate bodies that conduct research into cancer, heart and lung defects, the AIDS virus, genetics, alcohol and drug abuse and disorders of the brain and nervous system. More than 18,000 people work for the combined institutes.