(Reuters) -Indian pharmaceutical stocks shed 1.3% on Monday, even as the broader markets rose, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to cut prescription prices to the level paid by other high-income countries, an amount he put at 30% to 80% less.
Eight of the 20 stocks on the pharmaceutical sub-index were in the red, while the benchmark Nifty 50 index was trading 2.4% higher.
Sun Pharma, India’s top drugmaker by revenue, dropped 5.4% to be the top loser on the Nifty 50 and the pharma index. Glenmark Pharma and Cipla declined 0.4% and 1.5%, respectively.
Trump said he would sign the executive order on Monday morning to pursue what is known as “most favored nation” pricing or international reference pricing.
The U.S. pays the most in the world for many prescription drugs, often nearly triple that of other developed nations. Trump has said he wants to close that spread, but has not publicly specified how and did not provide details.
Several Indian drugmakers get a significant chunk of their revenue from North America by selling cheaper versions of the latest drugs.
The U.S. imports nearly a third of Indian pharma products sold overseas.
India’s pharma exports to the U.S. jumped 16% to about $9 billion last fiscal year, according to data from government-backed trade body Pharmexcil.
(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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