Vaccine maker stocks fall after conspiracy theory-spreading RFK Jr. tapped to lead health department

Pharmaceutical stocks continued to fall Friday after President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial nomination of vaccine skeptic Robert F.Kennedy Jr.

to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.Shares of COVID vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer fell early Friday morning, down 4% and 4.3% respectively. Shares of Novavax, another US-based biotech company, slipped 2.6%. Germany-based BioNTech shares plunged 5.9% and British pharma company GSK shares dropped 2.9%.The stocks had started to fall in the final hour of trading on Thursday as reports emerged of Trump’s contentious pick.Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax have struggled to match the profits seen during the pandemic as Americans have pulled back on receiving COVID shots.If RFK Jr.– son of the attorney general and US senator who was assassinated in 1968 – is confirmed as the head of HHS, he will oversee 80,000 employees, a $1.7 trillion budget and a network of health-related agencies. Though Kennedy pledged he would not “take away” anyone’s vaccines, he has been a vocal, longtime critic of the vaccination of children.He has repeatedly claimed that vaccines are linked to autism.

He also founded Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit.In May 2023, Kennedy, then a presidential candidate running as an independent, claimed “pesticides, cellphones, ultrasound” could be causing an upswing in Tourette syndrome and peanut allergies, The Post’s editorial board wrote Thursday night.He has backed the consumption of raw milk, which government health agencies have warned raises the risk of salmonella, E.coli and listeria, and has cast doubt on whether HIV leads to AIDS. CNN anchor Jake Tapper – who previously dismissed RFK Jr.

as a “conspiracy theorist” – joked about his nomination as the news broke Thursday evening.“Well America, I hope you like measles,” Tapper said....