Ariad Pharmaceutical investors lost $387 million Friday following a tweet from Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) twitter account that called out the drug company for its high prices in front of an audience of 2.6 million followers, reported The Next Web.
The tweet said, "Drug corporations' greed is unbelievable. Ariad has raised the price of a leukemia drug to almost $199,000 a year," and linked to a STAT article about the company's price hikes. The tweet was not signed with a "-B," indicating a staff member — not Sen. Sanders — wrote the post, according to the report.
Ariad raised the wholesale acquisition price of its leukemia drug Iclusig four times this year, according to STAT. The treatment costs more than $16,000 for a 30-day pack of pills, which amounts to $199,000 a year.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Ariad's shares dropped 15 percent on Friday afternoon in response to the tweet, costing investors $387 million, according to the report.
More articles on supply chain:
Drug industry reaps new profits from opioid abuse crisis
3 takeaways from last week's American Medical Device Summit
Trucking industry provides less financial support to Donald Trump than past Republican nominees: 4 things to know