EU drug firms warn of exodus to US as Trump threatens levies

Pharmaceutical companies in the EU have warned of a "risk of exodus" to the US as stocks in the sector slid around the world on the back of Donald Trump's renewed threat to impose tariffs on US drugs imports.

- Lisa O'Carroll

Drugmakers' shares across Europe and India, another foreign pharma hub, slipped yesterday after Trump indicated that further carnage was on the way before announcing a surprise "pause" on "reciprocal tariffs".

A basket of European healthcare stocks, the Stoxx 600 Health Care index, which has been declining in value since Trump first threatened tariffs in March, was down 5.9% earlier on the day.

AstraZeneca, a star performer during Covid, and the French giant Sanofi were among the worst hit, falling 7% and 6.4%, while the British company GSK was down 5.71% and the Swiss companies Novartis and Roche were down nearly 6%.

India was also affected, where companies such as Teva are among the world's biggest medicine manufacturers, making everything from branded paracetamol to active ingredients in pharmaceutical products through contracts with some of the world's biggest brands.

Trump imposed fresh tariffs yesterday but later put them on pause for 90 days for most countries except China. The move followed 10% tariffs on imports from all countries imposed over the weekend.