Investor optimism regarding the outlook for European healthcare stocks continued to decline dramatically on Thursday following President-elect Donald Trump's press conference in which he vowed to clamp down on drug pricing.
Trump said the drug industry in the U.S. was "disastrous" and pharmaceuticals had been "getting away with murder" during his first press conference as President-elect on Wednesday.
"Any hopes from the pharmaceutical industry that a Hilary Clinton election victory would have been better have now been erased by Trump's press conference," Alistair Campbell, research analyst at Berenberg Bank, told CNBC in a phone interview on Thursday.
Drug stocks had initially rallied in the aftermath of Trump's election victory which reflected investor relief that his opponent, Hilary Clinton, would not be able to implement price controls on the industry. However, Trump's latest comments appeared to be indicative of a negative outlook for European healthcare stocks, especially those with a greater exposure to the U.S. market.
Lose lose situation
"In terms of winners and losers for healthcare stocks, I think it's quite obvious there will be no winners… but some companies may be in a position to lose more than others," Campbell said.
"European companies that have an exposure to the U.S. market would naturally be the most at risk, (both in terms of) sales and how diversified the company may be. I would imagine Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca are likely to be hit the hardest," he added.
The pan-European STOXX 600's healthcare sector slumped 2 percent in Thursday afternoon trade as investors digested Trump's comments. The sector was headed for its biggest loss since the presidential election in November.
Immarsat was the worst performing healthcare company in the pan-European STOXX 600 on Thursday; its shares fell 5 percent lower. The other big losers were Novo Nordisk and BTG.