Vaccine Maker Stocks Slump After RFK Jr. Nominated as HHS Head
Main points
- Shares of vaccine makers fell in early trading Friday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The one-time third-party candidate has spent years raising baseless doubts about the vaccine’s safety. He still needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
- Several drug companies, including Pfizer and Eli Lilly, fell in early trading Friday.
In the latest fallout from the 2024 presidential election on the stock market, shares of several vaccine makers fell on Friday morning following the nominations. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
President-elect Donald Trump announced the selection Thursday as he continues to make cabinet choices for his second term. kennedy Spent part of the activity time Run as a third-party alternative to Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, then dropped out and endorsed the Republican nominee.
Shares of U.S. and international vaccine makers fall
Several pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, fell in early trading Friday.PTFE), Eli Lilly and Company (Li Lai) and Novavax (NVAX)wait.
The decline also extended to international companies operating in the U.S. market, such as shares of Astrazeneca (AZN), biotechnology (BNTX) and Novo Nordisk (non-governmental organization) also declined on Friday morning.
Why does Kennedy’s nomination weigh in on vaccine makers?
After his nomination, Kennedy said he looked forward to “working with HHS’s more than 80,000 employees to free these agencies from the suffocating cloud of corporate capture.”
The former presidential candidate reportedly worked as an environmental lawyer before joining the “anti-vaccination” movement around 2005. this New York Times. Kennedy advanced a long-debunked theory that vaccines cause autism, while era According to reports, the organization founded by Kennedy promoted misleading or disconfirming theories about the harmful effects of vaccines.
He criticized a “revolving door” of government and private sector workers, arguing the influence of pharmaceutical companies forced regulators to be dishonest about allegedly dangerous vaccines, era reported.
Kennedy still needs to be confirmed by the Senate, era Given his history of extreme rhetoric, coverage could be difficult even with a Republican majority.