Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Trump says pharma 'getting away with murder,' stocks slide

Reuters: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said pharmaceutical companies are "getting away with murder" in what they charge the government for medicines, and promised that would change, sending drugs stocks sharply lower.

The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX slipped into negative territory after his remarks at a news conference spooked investors. The iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB.O) dropped 4 percent at its session low and ended down 3 percent, its largest daily percentage drop in three months.

"When the president-elect says we're going to negotiate drug pricing, you have to take that seriously, but at the same this is a complicated issue because there's not going to be clarity on drug pricing reform anytime soon," said Brad Loncar, manager of the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR.O). "When somebody that high profile says something that negative, people do not want to invest in it."

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