Trump: I'm Going To Bring Down Drug Prices

Biotech investors thought they dodged a bullet on Election Day, but drug prices may soon be back in the spotlight.

Time just named President-elect Donald Trump its 2016 Person of the Year. In an interview with Time, Trump was asked about prescription drug prices.

“I’m going to bring down drug prices,” Trump said. “I don’t like what’s happened with drug prices.”

He provided no details about how he intends to accomplish the goal.

Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, made drug prices a centerpiece of her campaign.

Back on September 21, 2015, Clinton responded to a New York Times article on drug prices that mentioned Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX by tweeting, “Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous.”

In addition to calling out Valeant for its pricing practices, Clinton also blasted Mylan NV MYL for its EpiPen prices.

From the time Clinton sent that tweet on September 21, 2015, up to Election Day, the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) IBB plummeted 26.8 percent on fears surrounding Clinton’s plan to create a federal agency to monitor drug prices.

The IBB initially jumped more than 11 percent following the election but has since drifted lower as reality sets in that Trump may not be taking a hands-off approach to drug prices.

IBB, VRX and MYL were all trading down about 2 percent in Wednesday's pre-market session. The SPDR S&P Biotech (ETF) XBI was down nearly 3 percent.