RBC Capital analyst Michael Yee notes that biotech indices are under pressure after Hillary Clinton tweeted about an upcoming plan to fight specialty drug pricing. The news follows a Wall Street Journal story about a private company dramatically increasing the price of their drug and another confirmed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy case for Biogen (BIIB), Yee tells investors in an intraday research note. Next year's election is likely to turn up the noise around drug pricing, creating headline risk for the biotech space, the analyst cautions. However, he reminds investors that Republicans control Congress, making it unlikely that "anything material" will get signed into law. Biotech names moving lower in today's trading include Biogen, AbbVie (ABBV), Gilead (GILD), Alkermes (ALKS), BioMarin (BMRN), Amicus (FOLD) and PTC Therapeutics (PTCT).

AbbVie announced positive top-line results from SELECT-GCA, a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, showing upadacitinib in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved its primary endpoint of sustained remissiona from week 12 through week 52 in adults with giant cell arteritis. In this study, 46% of patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved sustained remission compared to 29 percent of patients receiving placebo in combination with a 52-week steroid taper regimen. Key secondary endpoints were also met, including a higher percentage of patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved sustained complete remissionb from week 12 through week 52 compared to patients receiving placebo in combination with a 52-week steroid taper regimen. A lower percentage of patients experienced at least one disease flare through week 52 in the upadacitinib 15 mg group versus the placebo group. The study results also showed that upadacitinib 7.5 mg did not meet the primary or any of the secondary endpoints.