Donald Trump made several campaign promises about targeting the price of prescription drugs. Now, he plans to make good on those promises, sources say, but any action may be weeks away and lack the teeth that scared investors away from the biotech sector.

The White House may wait until after the Senate calls a vote on health reform before issuing an executive order on drug pricing, according to people familiar with the administration's approach, who asked to remain anonymous as the plans aren't yet public.

Moreover, the proposals being considered don't address major changes such as seeking to give Medicare the power to negotiate on the price of drugs, focusing instead on policies such as value-based pricing.

The White House declined to comment.

There's a "general recognition that the Trump threat to regulate drug prices in a harmful way is receding," Leerink analyst Geoff Porges told CNBC in an email Tuesday. That's helping buoy biotech stocks, he said, as "the light at the end of the tunnel is now in the tunnel!"

The Nasdaq biotechnology index, depressed since presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pledged to take on prescription drug prices in 2015, has surged 4 percent in the last five days, and was up more than 2 percent Tuesday.