Rep. Tom Price has sponsored and advocated legislation that could affect the companies’ share prices
Mr. Price’s trading is likely to be a significant issue during his Senate confirmation hearings. Allegations of abusive trading by members of Congress in recent years led to a 2012 law—the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act—that bars members and employees of Congress from using “any nonpublic information derived from the individual’s position…or gained from performance of the individual’s duties, for personal benefit.” The law also requires members to report their trades within 45 days... The health-care industry is Mr. Price’s biggest patron. In 2015 and 2016, he received about $730,000 in campaign donations from health professionals, insurers and drug companies, more than from any other industry.. Aetna and others are set to benefit from certain provisions of the 2010 health law that Mr. Price’s bill would replace... The largest shareholder of Mr. Price’s biggest stock buy, Australia’s Innate Immuno, is Rep. Chris Collins (R., N.Y.), with a 17% stake, according to the company’s website. Mr. Collins, a member of the Trump transition team, also sits on the company’s board... Mr. Collins said in his hometown newspaper, the Buffalo News, that his authorship of legislation wasn’t a conflict of interest, but rather an instance of bringing his business knowledge to the Congress... The closing price on the Australian Exchange on the day Mr. Price made his purchase was A$0.41, and it closed on Thursday at A$0.85. That means that Mr. Price’s holdings have paper gains of between $50,000 and $100,000.