“They’re leaving left and right. They supply our drugs but they don’t make them here, to a large extent,” Donald Trump said of drug companies. | Getty Trump says drug industry 'getting away with murder'

President-elect Donald Trump went after drug makers in the opening remarks of his press conference Wednesday, calling the industry's practices “disastrous” and suggested the government should negotiate drug prices.

Biotech stocks immediately fell — the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index dropped about 3 percent on Wednesday.


Trump had endorsed having Medicare negotiate drug prices — a long-time Democratic position which Republicans have opposed — earlier in his campaign but has rarely mentioned it since then. He came out swinging in the first few minutes of his press conference, right after slamming intelligence agencies and the media.

“The other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they're getting away with murder, pharma. Pharma has a lot of lobbies, a lot of lobbyists, a lot of power. And there's very little bidding on drugs,” he said.

“We're the largest buyer of drugs in the world," he continued. "And yet we don't bid properly. We're going to start bidding. We're going to save billions of dollars over a period of time. And we're going to do that with a lot of other industries.”

Polls over the past two years have shown that high drug prices are among Americans' top health care concerns, regardless of party. Large price increases for old drugs dominated the headlines last year, and congressional investigations into the EpiPen and former pharma executive Martin Shkreli became campaign fodder. Both Trump and Hillary Clinton attacked drug makers, though Clinton laid out a much more detailed plan to fight drug prices.

But one drug industry lobbyist said Trump’s harsh remarks were a reminder that Clinton's defeat didn’t mean that the drug industry could coast.

“None of us should be surprised by him being a total wild card,” the lobbyist said. “Anyone who thought industry is fine because Hillary Clinton lost is being naïve.

The lobbyist said the industry should be prepared for Trump to follow through on drug price policy — and that companies “will want to get together with him and have discussions,” particularly since his words have such an immediate impact on stock prices.

The Senate may have a chance to show exactly where it stands on Medicare drug price negotiation during a budget “vote-a-rama” starting Wednesday night. Democrats want a vote on an amendment to kill the long-standing ban on such negotiations. The budget votes are nonbinding — but can send a political message, if they are allowed to come to the floor.

Bernie Sanders, one of the drug industry’s harshest critics in the Senate, used Trump’s comments to challenge his colleagues to support an amendment on negotiations and another one allowing importation of drugs from other countries — a policy that Trump and some Republicans have previously endorsed.

“With a Republican president-elect telling the truth that pharma is getting away with murder, will the Republicans, will all the Democrats have the guts finally to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry and their lobbyists and their campaign donations and fight for the American consumer and end the disgrace of having our country pay by far the highest of the price in the world for prescription drugs?” Sanders said on the Senate floor.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who chairs the House Democratic Caucus’s task force on drug prices, said Trump’s comments may make it easier for Republicans to support drug pricing reform. His remarks lent support “to many Republicans as well as Democrats who know that the costs of prescriptions drug is not a red or blue matter,” Welch said.

But one key Republican senator pushed back against Trump's comments. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a longtime pharma ally, said Trump's call for government price negotiations is “dangerous because if you stifle the innovation we could lose all kinds of therapies that are very important.”

When asked whether the proposal had any chance of advancing in the Senate, Hatch was less assured. “I don’t know, we will have to see,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Terry Haines, who covers Washington policy for investors at EverCore ISI, said he’s watching to see whether drug price policy gets wrapped into Obamacare repeal legislation with Trump's support. “Many in both political parties will want to do something about drug pricing and the issue will be under active debate throughout that legislative process,” he said.

Trump also attacked drug companies for relocating overseas for tax reasons and manufacturing abroad.

“They’re leaving left and right. They supply our drugs but they don’t make them here, to a large extent,” Trump said.

Brad Loncar, who runs a biotech investment fund focused on new cancer immunotherapies, said Trump’s comments ironically could discourage further investment in U.S. drug makers and force more companies out of the country.

“If investors hear sound bytes like this and view drug development as un-investable and take their money other places, that’s a bad thing,” he said. “It sounded like the point he was trying to make was bring the industry back. That’s the opposite of what will bring the industry back.”

PhRMA and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, trade groups representing drug makers which strongly oppose Medicare negotiations, refrained from criticizing Trump’s comments while stressing the millions of jobs tied to their industries. PhRMA also pointed out that insurers already negotiate with drug makers on drug prices.

“Today, medicines are purchased in a competitive marketplace where large, sophisticated purchasers aggressively negotiate lower prices,” PhRMA said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the new administration and Congress to advance proactive, practical solutions to improve the marketplace and make it more responsive to the needs of patients.”

Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report.