Shares of Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) fell by more than 2% and 3%, respectively, premarket Tuesday after U.S. President Joe Biden said Novo Nordisk must cut Ozempic and Wegovy prices.
Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders called on the company to cut prices of its weight loss and diabetes drugs in an editorial published in USA Today on Tuesday.
"If Novo Nordisk and other pharmaceutical companies refuse to substantially lower prescription drug prices in our country and end their greed, we will do everything within our power to end it for them," they state in the article.
Biden and Sanders said they have long had concerns regarding the "outrageous prices" the pharmaceutical industry charges American people for prescription drugs.
They also said they plan to expand negotiations on drug prices: "The number of prescription drugs up for price negotiation must be expanded to at least 50 a year. We are working together on legislation to do just that."