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Investors on Friday weighed down stocks of vaccine makers and drug companies amid growing concerns over Donald Trump’s nomination of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead U.S. health officials. Sold all at once.
U.S.-listed vaccine makers opened lower, widening the previous day’s decline. Moderna fell 6% after dropping more than 5% on Thursday. Pfizer fell 4.4% after falling 2.6%.
The nomination also had a broader impact on the pharmaceutical sector, with a basket of European healthcare stocks falling more than 2.7%, while GSK and Sanofi, the world’s two largest vaccine makers by revenue, fell 4.5% and 4% respectively. .
President Kennedy, known as RFK Jr., has been a vocal opponent of the US government’s vaccine policy, questioning the number of jabs given in childhood, saying they were “the most lethal jabs ever created”. He has cast doubts on the new coronavirus vaccine, which he has described as a “vaccine,” and exposed mistakes in vaccine policy. Claims about a link between MMR jabs and autism.
But President Kennedy has not publicly called for a ban on any jabs, saying in an interview with NBC News last week that he had no intention of “taking away the vaccine.”
In his new role as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy will oversee 10 agencies with significant influence on drug regulation and public health, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Mr. Trump’s nomination of Mr. Kennedy is likely to face a tough confirmation process in the Senate, similar to other controversial Cabinet nominations such as his attorney general nominee, Rep. Matt Gaetz.
President Kennedy also called for a “department-wide” purge of the FDA. He wrote in X magazine last month: “The FDA’s war on public health is coming to an end. If you work at the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records; and 2. Please pack your things.”
The prospect of President Kennedy enacting a controversial opinion affected stock prices across the pharmaceutical sector, but vaccine and biotech companies were among the hardest hit on Thursday night and Friday.
Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said Kennedy’s appointment added to the vaccine maker’s already “bleak” outlook due to slowing sales growth. “RFK Jr. has been outspoken about downsizing the FDA, and there are concerns about FDA resources,” the comment said. [weight loss drugs] And vaccines,” Yee said.
Shares in Bavarian Nordic, which makes vaccines for diseases such as rabies and smallpox, fell as much as 18% in morning trading, even as the Danish small company maintained its guidance in results announced on Friday.
The company’s chief financial officer, Henrik Jewell, told the Financial Times that the sell-off was a “massive overreaction” to Kennedy’s nomination, but that the company “has a tendency to be more responsive to the media.” He said that individual investors accounted for the majority.
When asked whether Kennedy’s ideas became policy, he answered: I don’t think anyone would allow that. I’m sure someone wise will give you some advice. [him]”
He added that he expects sales of Bavarian Nordic’s smallpox vaccine to increase due to increased biodefense spending and stockpiling by the Trump administration.
However, other ministerial appointees have struck a different tone on regulating pharmaceutical groups.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the former biotech chief executive who was appointed alongside Elon Musk to oversee the government’s efficiency drive, advocated lowering barriers to approving new drugs in a post on X on Friday.
“My biggest problem with the FDA is that they are putting up unnecessary barriers to innovation,” Ramaswamy said. “This deprives patients of access to promising treatments, reduces competition and increases the cost of prescription drugs.The agency’s staff ruthlessly assesses the impact that daily decisions have on the cost of developing new treatments. I’m ignoring you.”
