Pharmaceutical stocks slide as Trump vows to cut prescription drug prices ‘by 30-80%’

Donald Trump has promised to usage his enforcement powers to chopped the terms of medicine drugs successful America successful an effort to bring them much successful enactment with different countries.

The US president has said helium volition motion an bid connected Monday that volition trim medicine cause and pharmaceutical prices “almost immediately” by “30% to 80%”.

Writing connected Truth Social, his societal media platform, Trump said connected Sunday it was “difficult to explicate and precise embarrassing” wherefore cause prices successful America were higher compared with galore different countries.

“The Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was Research and Development Costs, and that each of these costs were, and would be, for nary crushed whatsoever, borne by the “suckers” of America, ALONE,” helium wrote.

He added helium would present a “most favoured nation” policy, whereby the US pays “the aforesaid terms arsenic the federation that pays the lowest terms anyplace successful the World”.

The comments triggered a sell-off successful pharmaceutical stocks connected Monday amid worries profits could autumn if they person to chopped prices successful the US.

In London, shares successful pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and GSK fell successful aboriginal trading by arsenic overmuch arsenic 5% and 2.6%, respectively. Shares successful Novo Nordisk, which is listed successful Frankfurt, dropped by 7.5%, portion Swiss radical Roche Holdings dropped by 3.6%.

In South Korea, shares successful SK Biopharmaceuticals and Samsung Biologics fell by arsenic overmuch arsenic 2.7% and 4.7%, respectively. In Hong Kong, BeiGene dropped 8.9% and Innovent Biologics fell by 7%.

Trump targeted precocious cause costs during his archetypal administration, which aimed to headdress prices for definite medicines nether Medicare. However, it was struck down successful national tribunal aft a situation from cause companies.

The American authorities does already negociate prices for immoderate of the astir costly medicines utilized successful Medicare, a national wellness security programme, nether past president Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Medicare covers 66 cardinal Americans, mostly aged 65 oregon over.

However, Trump did not specify connected Sunday whether his enforcement bid would use to Medicare, Medicaid oregon different authorities wellness programmes.

He suggested that industry lobbyists had been unsuccessful successful the White House, contempt the information that large pharmaceutical companies and manufacture bodies had made donations to his inauguration.

“Campaign Contributions tin bash wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican party. We are going to bash the close thing, thing that the Democrats person fought for galore years,” helium said.