McKesson Shares Tumble Amid Report Offices Raided On Drug-Pricing Probe

McKesson Corporation MCK shares continued to trader lower Thursday. This time, the weakness can be attributed to the raid conducted by Cartel Office in German on drug pricing investigation.

According to Handelsblatt, authorities from competition have raided about eight wholesalers from the pharmaceuticals segment based on the doubts of illegal deals on drug pricing. The report pointed out that drug wholesalers were slapped with a fine eight years back for not adhering to the laws of the land.

The total wholesale drug market is valued about Euro 29 billion in German. Interestingly, the market is dictated by five companies. Officials are probing on the illegal nexus among the wholesalers. As a result, the authorities felt that the drug prices were hiked artificially.

Interestingly, Wall Street Journal reporter Charley Grant Tweeted an excerpt from McKesson's Form 10-K filing that indicated its revenue and profit could come under pressure due to its "suppliers' pricing, selling inventory, distribution or supply policies or practices."

Also interesting, McKesson Chairman and CEO John Hammergren divested shares worth $36.7 million on September 9 and 12.

Based on Thursday's low of $163.97, the stock lost about 6.88 percent this week alone. At time of writing, the stock shed $0.58, or 0.35 percent, to $167.12.