Shares in Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) were up around 4% in pre-market trading after the drug company’s chief executive came out swinging following criticism from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.
On Wednesday the Democratic Party nominee hit out at the company via Twitter calling “outrageous” price hikes to the EpiPen, used to treat severe allergic reactions.
Mylan reacted by announcing plans to boost access to the product by expanding already-existing programs for patients who face what’s called out-of-pocket expenses (costs that are later reimbursed).
"I think that we responded this morning, first and foremost, ensuring that everyone who needs an EpiPen has an EpiPen," boss Heather Bresch told CNBC’s Squawk Box.
On Wednesday Mylan tumbled 5%, dragging with it a host of biggies, including Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG).
The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell 3.5% following the Clinton Tweet.
In the UK Thursday £3.7bn was wiped off the value of the UK’s major drugs stocks.
Shire Plc (LON:SHP), which has a significant US franchise, was clobbered hardest at its shares fell 4%, wiping around £1.8bn from its value.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) also slid 4%, while AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) reversed 1.5%. Germany’s Qiagen NV (ETR:QIA) lost 3%.
Relatively unscathed was GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LON:GSK), which fell just 0.4%.
It is not the first time Clinton has taken aim at the industry and analysts are increasingly fearful that if she makes it to the White house, Clinton will force through some swingeing price cuts in order to lower medical bills and prevent perceived profiteering.
“Hilary Clinton’s attack on the price gouging of an allergy medicine is expected to continue to weigh on the healthcare sector,” said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets.
“Her statements reaffirm a fear in the industry that a Clinton presidency would see a serious crackdown on pharmaceutical price gouging.”
RBC analyst Michael Yee, quoted on Bloomberg, said Clinton’s Tweet and earlier comments hinted at “more political risk around drug pricing”.
The former Secretary of State is known to want to cap costs, while pushing pharma companies to spend more on research.
She is also in favour of banning direct-to-consumer advertising.
Her rival for the White House has also weighed in on the debate.
Donald Trump said during the Republican primaries he would push for Medicare to be able to renegotiate drug prices.
However, he hasn’t rounded on individual companies in the way his rival has with Mylan and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) before that.