Pharmaceutical stocks continued to fall on Friday after President-elect Donald Trump's controversial nomination of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
Shares of coronavirus vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer fell early Friday morning, dropping 4% and 4.3%, respectively.
Shares of Novavax, another US-based biotechnology company, fell 2.6%.
Shares in Germany-based BioNTech fell 5.9% and shares in British pharmaceutical company GSK fell 2.9%.
Stocks began to fall in the final hours of trading Thursday as reports emerged of Trump's controversial appointments.
Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax have struggled to match the gains seen during the pandemic as Americans refrained from receiving coronavirus vaccines.
If RFK Jr., the son of an attorney general and U.S. senator who was assassinated in 1968, is confirmed as HHS secretary, he will command 80,000 employees, a $1.7 trillion budget, and a network of health agencies. He will be supervising.
President Kennedy has vowed not to “take away” vaccines from anyone, but has long been a vocal critic of child vaccinations.
he repeated Claims vaccines are linked to autism.
He also founded Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit.
In May 2023, Kennedy, then an independent presidential candidate, claimed that “pesticides, cell phones, and ultrasound” may be causing an increase in Tourette syndrome and peanut allergies, according to the Post. the editorial board wrote Thursday night.
he has supported the consumption of raw milkGovernment health agencies have warned that it increases the risk of Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes. Questions whether HIV leads to AIDS.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who previously dismissed RFK Jr. as a “conspiracy theorist,” joked about his nomination when the news broke Thursday night.
“Well, America, I hope you like measles,” Tapper said.
