Trump warns Wall Street: I'm going to cut drug prices

Trump warns Wall Street: I'm going to cut drug prices

by Matt Egan
December 7, 2016: 11:22 AM ET

Donald Trump's shocking November victory set off a frenzy on Wall Street to buy pharmaceutical stocks.

Investors bet that Trump would be far less likely to crack down on controversial drug price hikes compared to his rival Hillary Clinton, who had spoken out against the increases and even had a plan to lower prices. Shares of a biotech ETF spiked 9% the day after Trump's election.

But Trump put the entire drug industry on notice on Wednesday in an interview with Time.

"I'm going to bring down drug prices," the president-elect told the magazine, which named him its Person of the Year.

Time said Trump suggested that some stock analysts misread his intentions.

"I don't like what has happened with drug prices," he said.

The comments instantly rippled across Wall Street. Shares of drug stocks Valeant (VRX), AbbVie (ABBV) and Pfizer (PFE) fell between 3% and 5%. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) dropped more than 4%.

Mylan (MYL), the controversial maker of EpiPen, retreated 5%. This past summer, EpiPen was at the center of a national outrage over the 400% price hike for the lifesaving allergy treatment. Heather Bresch, the Mylan CEO became the latest symbol of corporate greed and was grilled by Congress.

Before EpiPen, the dramatic rise in drug prices received ample scrutiny over AIDS drug Daraparim. Martin Shkreli, the so-called "pharma bro," was widely criticized for a 5,000% overnight increase in Daraprim prices.

While Clinton was more vocal about taking on drug companies, Trump did speak out on the issue before the election and called for legislation to allow for importing "cheaper" drugs from overseas.

"Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America," Trump's campaign website said.

Trump's comments to Time suggest that this may not have been idle campaign rhetoric.

Some drug execs have been warning about the threat from Trump.

Allergan (AGN) CEO Brent Saunders said last week at the Forbes Healthcare Summit that "you're fooling yourself" if you think Trump "isn't a populist" and "jump on the next EpiPen scandal," according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Saunders said the industry has a "very false sense of security" to think Trump "won't Tweet against any company that does something like that."

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/07/inve...ech/index.html

That just made me smile. Yes, our dear Donald J Trump is a true populist, and anyone who doesn't think so is truly fooling themselves. He's run for President to fix things and these drug prices on some items are too high and need more competition. You want "free trade", well, how about "importing" some cheaper medicines to help sick people, save lives and cure people?

You know who may have great medicines that we don't know much about? Russia.

The United States is the only industrialized country that does not use price controls for pharmaceuticals. The FDA needs to lift its ban on Americans buying drugs from legitimate pharmacies in Canada. If Americans started purchasing their pharmaceuticals legally online from Canada, the pharmaceutical companies would eventually be forced to lower their prices in the U.S. to maintain their market share here. Well, anyway that's the way I see it. Since I take no prescription drugs, I'm far from an expert on this issue.

Lets see what Trump comes up with. Most of the Canadian pharma companies are our companies who have moved there. I'm not real comfortable with online drug purchases. We don't even have that in the United States, do we? I don't really know but I didn't think so. At least I've never heard of it.

US taxpayers subsidize the lower prices other countries pay...we are being ripped off again!

Yes, we definitely subsidize Canada's lower prices. That's for sure.

We also pay 70% of NATO and get ripped off by other countries having their lavish social programs at OUR expense!

Yes and Trump will fix it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy

Lets see what Trump comes up with. Most of the Canadian pharma companies are our companies who have moved there. I'm not real comfortable with online drug purchases. We don't even have that in the United States, do we? I don't really know but I didn't think so. At least I've never heard of it.

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I believe online drug purchases are legal in the United States. However, your purchase must come from a state-licenses pharmacy that is in good standing and located in the United States. It's the pharmacies responsibility to make sure you have a relationship with your doctor and that that doctor actually prescribed the medication. Personally, I don't know exactly what the process entails. Maybe it's by fax and phone call, not sure.

Oh, maybe so. I'd never heard of that. Maybe for refills, I could see that. I know my family member would get automatic phone calls to remind about refills and we could call a number enter the number off the bottle place the refill order and then go pick it up. That worked fine but for new prescriptions, we always had to take them the prescription. They were on Medicare so maybe that's why. Maybe people who aren't on Medicare can do it differently.

Something does need to be done.

Do they still allow people to get medications in Mexico and bring them back. When we were in AZ, one of the first things the snowbirds did, was go to Mexico for their medications.

Also, I've been with people who just go to the pharmacies there and buy what they wanted. They bought antibiotics and diuretics with no prescription - that's all I remember.

Lots of things need fixing in our healthcare system.