Business

Sanders sinks drug company’s stock with tweet

by Sylvan Lane - 11/01/16 2:13 PM ET

A tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a pharmaceutical company’s stock reeling on Tuesday.

Eli Lilly’s stock dropped nearly 2 percentage points after Sanders criticized the rising price of the company’s Humalog brand insulin, citing a Washington Post report on soaring costs of the diabetes drug.

“Why has the price of Humalog insulin gone up 700% in 20 years? It’s simple. The drug industry’s greed,” Sanders tweeted with a picture of a graph from the Post report.

Why has the price of Humalog insulin gone up 700% in 20 years? It’s simple. The drug industry’s greed. pic.twitter.com/SUeSbsr2Ka

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 1, 2016

{mosads}Eli Lilly’s stock sank almost 2 points to a seven-month low after the tweet, though it began to rebound hours later.

Biological technology stocks have been sinking as Election Day nears, out of concerns over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s emphasis on cracking down on rising drug prices.

The Washington Post report published late Monday highlighted how two of the largest insulin producers — Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk — raised prices on newer, improved versions of the drug, saying the increase was to fund research and development.

Sanders, who supports single-payer healthcare, slammed the companies, accusing them of prioritizing profits over patients.

“Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk clearly care more about their profits than their patients,” tweeted Sanders. “It’s time to end their greed.”

Tags Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton