Trump talk: President-elect's promise to control drug prices tanks biotech stocks
Biotech stocks fell nearly 5 percent Dec. 7, after Time magazine published an interview with President-elect Donald Trump, in which he vowed to take action to control drug prices.
Considering widespread concern over drug prices and recent high-profile cases of specific price increases, Trump appears to be including promises to control pharmaceutical prices in his populist message. In the interview with Time, which named him its "Person of the Year" for 2016, the president-elect was typically straightforward in his message.
“I’m going to bring down drug prices,” Trump said to Time. “I don’t like what has happened with drug prices.”
Biotech stocks fell by 4.6 percent in the hours after the story was published. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index hit its low of 261.65 at 11:25 a.m. (EST) before making a slight recovery.