President-elect Trump promised to clamp down on high drug prices by creating “new bidding procedures for the drug industry.”
Trump said during a press conference Wednesday that the way the country buys drugs needs to be revamped. He didn’t elaborate on specific bidding procedures, but he previously has called for Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. That practice is currently prohibited.
“We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and we are going to bid properly,” Trump said. “Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power.”
Some stock prices for drug makers dipped immediately in response to Trump’s remarks.
Mylan, which drew congressional scrutiny for raising the price of the EpiPen allergy medication by 400 percent, saw its stock price decline by 1.5 percent shortly after Trump’s remarks on prices.
Drug makers Biogen and Alexion fell even faster, with Biogen dropping 3 percent and Alexion down 5 percent.
