WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday blasted 13 Senate Democrats for lacking the “guts” to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry after they voted against a measure he pushed to help drive down drug costs by importing them from Canada.

The Vermont Independent and former Democratic presidential candidate said during a Thursday interview he plans to personally speak with the senators who opposed the measure — which failed 52-46 on Wednesday — and try to turn them around. A dozen Republicans voted in favor.

“The Democratic Party has got to make it very clear that they are prepared to stand up to powerful special interests like the pharmaceutical industry and like Wall Street, and they’re not going to win elections and they’re not going to be doing the right thing for the American people unless they have the guts to do that,” said Sanders, the leader of outreach efforts for Senate Democrats. “That 13 Democrats did not is disappointing. I absolutely hope that in the coming weeks and months you’re going to see many of them develop the courage to stand up to Pharma.”