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Associated Press President Donald Trump and the coronavirus task force will meet with pharmaceutical executives on Monday, the White House announced.
President Donald Trump said Monday he’s asked pharmaceutical companies to speed up work on a coronavirus vaccine, ahead of an afternoon meeting with drug-company executives.
“We’ve asked them to accelerate” work, Trump told reporters during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House.
The president, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the administration’s coronavirus task force, is scheduled to meet with the executives at the White House at 3 p.m. Eastern. The executives’ names and companies haven’t yet been released by the administration.
The U.S., which has reported multiple instances of transmission of the illness, now has a total of 86 cases and two deaths from COVID-19, a novel coronavirus that was first detected in China in December.
U.S. stocks DJIA, +3.05% opened higher Monday after notching their worst week since 2008. The Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF PJP, +2.06% rose along with the broader market SPX, +2.87% ahead of the White House meeting.
Also see: Pelosi’s drug-pricing bill passes House, but pharma stocks are up as its unlikely to become law.
