Pharma And Biotech Stocks Slump After President Trump Tweets About Lowering Drug Prices

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology shares slumped in pre-market trade Tuesday after President Donald Trump tweeted that he was working on a new system to increase drug industry competition and reduce drug pricing. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF slumped 0.6% and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF declined 1.2% Tuesday pre-market. "Pricing for the American people will come way down!" Trump said, though he provided no detail as to how. Since the president met with pharmaceutical executives in late January and seemed to back away from previous statements about negotiating drug prices, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF rebounded and then some. The president's tweet follows the release of House Republicans' health care plan Monday evening, whichmade no mention of drug prices. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has surged 7.9% over the last three months and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF has surged 14.5% over the last three months, compared with a 6.0% rise in the S&P 500 .

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