She could face more hurdles if Vice President Joe Biden enters the race. This was after a New York Times article showed that the cost of a 62-year old drug was being raised to $750.00 from $13.50.
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What’s happening: Shares of bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE), a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a focus on gene therapy, were shot down today on higher than normal volume, falling by more than 12% at one point today before slightly rebounding to a loss of just over 10%.
Stocks of makers of biologic and “specialty” drugs plunged Monday after Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton said she’ll soon release a plan to address “price gouging” in the industry. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has tumbled 4.7% to $339.88.
On Monday, shares in biotech companies such as Immunogen and Gilead Sciences dropped after Clinton tweeted that steep prices for specialty drugs were “outrageous”. “Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on”.
Turing chief executive Martin Shkreli said he risked over $US90 million acquiring the drug, before repricing it.
USA trade negotiators have leaned on Australia to make it easier for major pharmaceutical firms to charge more for drugs, by extending patents and intellectual property protections against generic competitors. They note that whatever Hillary Clinton proposes in terms of “drug cost reform” in her campaign is extremely unlikely to become law anytime in the next five years given Republican control of Congress. Bernie Sanders, has been railing about high drug prices for about a year and recently reintroduced legislation that would enable the Medicaid program to get lower prices for some drugs and allow USA residents to buy cheaper drugs from Canada.
Senator Sanders, a democratic socialist, wants the government to negotiate drug prices on behalf of American consumers, similar to how the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme operates in Australia.
RBC Capital Markets biotech analyst Michael Yee said there was “increased noise” around drug pricing policy.
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As Clinton’s tweet went viral and began reach a wider audience, volume climbed and prices dropped further.
