Following President-elect Donald Trump’s decision on Thursday to name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), vaccine manufacturer stocks took a hit during Friday morning’s trading.
Pfizer shares fell 4 percent, while Moderna saw a decline of about 7 percent. Both companies produce widely used vaccines, including mRNA-based COVID-19 shots. Novavax experienced a smaller drop of around 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, in Europe, Bavarian Nordic, the maker of an mpox vaccine, saw its shares plunge over 15 percent. Other pharmaceutical giants like GSK and AstraZeneca dropped by more than 2 percent. AstraZeneca, which manufactures a COVID-19 vaccine used in Europe and elsewhere, never gained U.S. approval for its product.
Kennedy, widely known as RFK Jr., has pledged significant reforms at HHS, particularly in the regulation of food and drugs. He has also called for sweeping changes in federal scientific research practices and funding. Following Trump’s victory earlier this month, Kennedy took to social platform X to warn Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staffers to “pack their bags.” He has also proposed firing 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which oversees vaccine research, and replacing them with new hires.
Kennedy, a long-time critic of certain childhood vaccines, has previously linked them to autism and autoimmune disorders. However, he recently assured in an NBC News interview that he wouldn’t eliminate vaccines for anyone. “If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away. People ought to have choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information,” he said on Nov. 6, shortly after Trump’s election win. “So I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.”
Beyond vaccines, Kennedy has also criticized FDA oversight of food products, particularly those targeted at children. He coined the Trump-inspired slogan “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) during his endorsement of Trump earlier this year. Kennedy has frequently accused federal health agencies, including the FDA and HHS, of corruption and collusion with pharmaceutical companies and corporate interests like Monsanto, the former maker of Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide linked to cancer risks. As an environmental attorney, Kennedy earned recognition for his legal battles against corporations like Monsanto and DuPont.
Following Trump’s announcement, Bayer, which acquired Monsanto, saw its shares fall by 1 percent on Monday, while DuPont shares dropped by a similar amount.
“We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said in a statement Thursday.
Kennedy initially ran in the Democratic primary against President Joe Biden before launching an independent bid. Earlier this year, he suspended that campaign and endorsed Trump, who has publicly praised Kennedy and pledged him a prominent role in his administration.
Some medical and scientific organizations have expressed strong opposition to Trump’s decision to nominate Kennedy for the HHS role, which oversees key agencies like the FDA, CDC, NIH, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is not remotely qualified for the role and should be nowhere near the science-based agencies that safeguard our nutrition, food safety, and health,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public health watchdog group.
