Thursday’s appointment from President-elect Donald Trump made it official: noted vaccine skeptic Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) will be asked to serve as the next U.S. secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The news has already made financial waves for vaccine makers. Since Politico reported on the potential selection Thursday afternoon, Pfizer and GSK shares are down about 5%, Sanofi's have fallen by 4%, and Merck's have dipped about 3.5%. Novavax shares have slipped a bit more, 8%, since 3:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, the time of the Politico report.
In the double-digit drop category are Moderna (-11% since 3:30 p.m. EST on Thursday) and Bavarian Nordic (-17% on Friday alone).
The stock moves came amid a wider selloff in equities, as the S&P 500 was down more than 1% on Friday and the Nasdaq down nearly 2%.
As HHS Secretary, RFK would have oversight of both the FDA and the CDC. Considering the decision-making power the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have on immunization schedules, RFK’s influence could pose tumultuous for vaccine recommendations and, subsequently, the financial performance of vaccine products.
For instance, shortly after ACIP narrowed its recommendations for who should receive vaccines to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), healthcare analytics company Airfinity sliced the projected market value of the vaccines in the U.S. by 64% by the end of the decade. The projected RSV market value for seniors, for example, went from $4.7 billion to $1.7 billion in 2030.
It's unclear how RFK will move on the government's vaccine recommendations, but he has often spread the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism.
Last month, the new HHS pick seemingly tried to quell concerns over his vaccine stance, posting on X that he’s “not going to take anyone's vaccines away from them.”
“I just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine,” RFK wrote in the social media post. “That's it.”
After Trump confirmed RFK’s spot in his cabinet, the potential HHS secretary pledged to "provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families," he wrote in a post on X.
RFK’s appointment will likely face a rocky confirmation process in the Senate. Already, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, has come out against his "outlandish views on basic scientific facts," according to a Thursday statement.