Pharma stocks fall up to 7% as Trump promises to slash US drug prices by 30% to 80%

Shares of Indian pharmaceutical companies fell up to 7% after US President Donald Trump promised to sign an executive order that will reduce drug prices in the US “almost immediately” by 30% to 80%.

“For many years the world has wondered why Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceuticals in the United States of America were so much higher in price than they were in any other nation, sometimes being five to ten times more expensive than the same drug, manufactured in the exact same laboratory or plant, by the same company?” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“It was always difficult to explain and very embarrassing because, in fact, there was no correct or rightful answer. The Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was research and development costs, and that all of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the “suckers” of America, alone,” the post said.

Trump said following the signing of this executive order, drug prices will rise throughout the world “in order to equalise and, for the first time in many years, bring fairness to America!”

Reacting to the development, shares of Sun Pharma fell as much as 7% to ₹1,623.50 in opening trade on Monday compared with its previous closing price of ₹1,744.85 on the BSE.

Shares of Lupin Ltd dropped 3.15% to hit a low of ₹1,973.95 on Monday morning. Similarly, shares of Lupin declined 2.6% to ₹1,360 on the BSE. Shares of Biocon fell as much as 3.66% in opening trade to hit a low of ₹317.90 on the BSE. Shares of Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma Ltd fell as much as 3.7%. The stock of Divis Laboratories Ltd shed 2% in early morning trade to hit a low of ₹5,875.50.

“I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” he said.

“Campaign Contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party. We are going to do the right thing, something that the Democrats have fought for many years. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Tomorrow morning, in the White House, at 9:00 A.M., I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our country’s history. Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%... Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before. Additionally, on top of everything else, the United States will save trillions of dollars,” said Trump.