Trump presses drug prices, pharmaceutical stocks plunge

After US President Donald Trump announced plans to lower prescription drug prices in the US to be in line with other countries, pharmaceutical company stocks plummeted. Trump posted on the Truth Social platform that he would sign an executive order to reduce drug prices by 30% to 80%. As a result of this news, as of the time of writing, in pre-market trading, shares of Eli Lilly and Company (LLY.US) fell by 3.6%, Amgen Inc. (AMGN.US) fell by 2.2%, Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.US) fell by 2.5%, and Pfizer Inc. (PFE.US) declined by 2.8%. In the London market, shares of Astrazeneca PLC Sponsored ADR dropped by 5% at one point, GlaxoSmithKline plc Sponsored ADR fell by 2.6%, Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B fell by over 5%, and Roche Holding AG also fell by over 4%. While the optimism surrounding a potential trade agreement between China and the US boosted overall Asian markets, pharmaceutical stocks in Japan led the way on Monday, becoming the worst-performing sector and dragging down the Topix index. Among them, Chugai Pharmaceutical saw its stock price plummet by 10%, marking the largest single-day decline since February 2024; Daiichi Sankyo's stock price dropped by 7.8% at one point during trading; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Sponsored ADR saw a decline of over 5%. The Hong Kong market was also impacted, with BeiGene's stock price falling by 8.97% and Innovent Biologics' stock price dropping by 5.73%. In the South Korean market, Celltrion Inc.'s stock price fell by over 3%; after the news was released, Indian pharmaceutical stocks also followed suit.