Australian pharmaceutical companies have endured a bruising year. Uncertainty sparked by the appointment of vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as US health secretary, combined with the persistent threat of new industry-wide tariffs, has weighed heavily on the sector.
Healthcare has been the worst-performing sector in 2025, retreating around 13% as the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 10%. Biotech heavyweight CSL, which carries an outsized influence on the index, has seen its shares sink 23% this year.
But sentiment has started shifting.
Since US President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on branded and patented drugs last month, the segment has rallied. Australia’s largest healthcare firms have largely downplayed the impact of the new tariffs, pointing to existing US manufacturing operations and diversified global supply chains as buffers against disruption.
Jack Kalavritinos, a senior health official during Trump’s first term, believes the future looks even brighter for pharma stocks, pointing to the prospect of accelerated approval processes for new drugs.