Trump pressures drug prices, pharmaceutical stocks plummet
U.S. President Trump announced that prescription drug prices will be lowered to be on par with other countries, leading to a widespread decline in pharmaceutical company stock prices. In pre-market trading, Eli Lilly fell 3.6%, Amgen dropped 2.2%, Merck declined 2.5%, and Pfizer decreased 2.8%. In the London market, AstraZeneca's stock plummeted 5%, and Novo Nordisk fell over 5%. Japanese pharmaceutical stocks led the decline, causing the Tokyo Stock Exchange index to drop. The Hong Kong and South Korean markets were also affected, with pharmaceutical stocks generally declining
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to reduce U.S. prescription drug prices to be on par with other countries, pharmaceutical company stocks fell sharply.
Trump stated on the Truth Social platform that he would sign an executive order to lower drug prices by 30% to 80%. As a result, as of the time of writing, in pre-market trading, Eli Lilly (LLY.US) shares fell 3.6%, Amgen (AMGN.US) shares dropped 2.2%, Merck (MRK.US) shares declined 2.5%, and Pfizer (PFE.US) shares decreased by 2.8%.
In the London market, AstraZeneca shares plummeted by 5%, GlaxoSmithKline shares fell 2.6%; Novo Nordisk shares dropped over 5%, and Roche Holding shares also fell more than 4%.
Despite the optimistic sentiment surrounding the potential for a U.S.-China trade agreement boosting the overall Asian market, on Monday, pharmaceutical stocks led the decline in the Japanese stock market, becoming the worst-performing sector, dragging down the Tokyo Stock Price Index (Topix).
Among them, Chugai Pharmaceutical shares plummeted 10%, marking the largest single-day drop since February 2024; Daiichi Sankyo shares briefly fell 7.8%; Takeda Pharmaceutical shares dropped over 5%.
The Hong Kong market was similarly impacted, with BeiGene shares closing down 8.97% and Innovent Biologics shares falling 5.73%. In the South Korean market, Celltrion Inc shares dropped over 3%; following the news, Indian pharmaceutical stocks also fell across the board
