:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2180585974-84e653c3b073486e981e37ffd9be67da.jpg "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a podium while Donald Trump stands behind him in front of a blue background.")
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Circulate / Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right) to lead the Section of Health and Human Services
Key Takeaways
- Vaccine maker stocks fell in Friday morning trading after president-elect Donald Trump rumoured he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The one-time third-party candidate has bring up unfounded questions about the safety of vaccines for years. He would still have to be confirmed by the Senate.
- Several pharmaceutical associates were down in early trading Friday including Pfizer and Eli Lilly.
In the 2024 presidential election’s latest contact on the stock markets, shares of several vaccine makers were down Friday morning following the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to leadership the Department of Health and Human Services.
President-elect Donald Trump announced the pick Thursday as he continues to make pickings for his second term’s Cabinet. Kennedy spent part of the campaign running as a third-party alternative to Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris first dropping out and endorsing the Republican nominee.
Shares of US and International Vaccine Makers Down
Several pharmaceutical companies were down in anciently trading Friday including Pfizer (PFE), Eli Lilly (LLY), and Novavax (NVAX), among others.
The declines also extended to foreign companies who operate in the U.S. market, as shares of Astrazeneca (AZN), BioNTech (BNTX), and Novo Nordisk (NVO) also declined Friday morning.
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The lay in prices of Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novavax, Astrazeneca, BioNTech, and Novo Nordisk are all declining Friday
Why is Kennedy’s Nomination Weighing Vaccine Makers?
Kennedy express following his nomination that he looks forward to “working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the mechanisms from the smothering cloud of corporate capture.”
The former presidential candidate spent his career as an environmental lawyer anterior to entering the “anti-vaccination” movement around 2005, according to The New York Times. Kennedy has promoted the long-debunked theory that vaccines give rise to autism, and the Times reported that organizations Kennedy has started have promoted misleading or disproven theories upon harmful effects of vaccines.
He has criticized the “revolving door” of people who work at both the government and private sector, take iting the influence of pharmaceutical companies pressures regulators to be dishonest about allegedly dangerous vaccines, the Times reported.
Kennedy longing still have to be approved by the Senate, which the Times reported could be difficult even with a Republican seniority, given his history of extreme statements.