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Shares of major vaccine makers fell Monday after major U.S. health officials protested health and human services director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccination views.
The departure of Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, has sparked new fears about whether the Trump administration will quickly approve and promote key shots. In his position, Marks oversaw the rules regarding the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines and the use of new therapies, such as cell therapy and gene therapy.
Stocks Moderna and Novavax Both fell by more than 7% in afternoon trading. meanwhile, SPDR S&P Biotech ETF I slid about 4%. Stocks Pfizerthere were a wider range of companies to isolate it from damage to the vaccine portfolio, losing about 0.6%.
Some Wall Street analysts say Marks’ departure could undermine the FDA’s mission to reach US patients, putting even more pressure on the struggling biotech sector.
“A step back, we consider this departure a critical negative for the biopharma and biotech sector as FDA’s independence, rooted in sound scientific rigor, is essential for efficient functioning,” an analyst at BMO Capital Markets wrote Monday.
Peter Marks, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biological Assessment and Research, will speak at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee hearing held in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
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In a resignation letter obtained by CNBC on Friday, Marks criticized Kennedy’s “false information and lies” for vaccination. He said the growing outbreak of measles that began in Texas has come as a result of “damage to confidence in an established vaccine.”
“You know, I have worked to address the secretary’s concerns about vaccine safety and transparency by conducting interviews with the public and various different public meetings and involvement with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine,” writes Marks. “However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not wanted by the secretary, but rather he wants a subordinate confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, has taken steps to say that public health experts can undermine the importance of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines and block routine vaccinations in the United States, which has promoted unproven treatments to combat the invasion of measles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also conducting research into the long-standing link between vaccines and autism, led by researchers with a history of spreading misinformation about shots.
Analysts at Leerink Partners wrote in a memo on Monday that the effect of Marks’ resignation on biotechnology and drugs will depend in part on who will replace him in the FDA and whether or not White House and Congressional Republicans begin to lose patience with his approach. Other analysts also emphasized that Marks is merely an agency employee, noting that new FDA commissioner Marty McCurry has a track record of helping with proven treatments.
“Many believe Mark’s resignation is a very bad foreshadowing for the healthcare industry and innovation, but it may be a bit premature to cast a dark shadow across pharma and biotechnology,” wrote Mizuho Securities Analyst Jared Holtz.
– CNBC’s Angelica Peebulls and Anica Kim Constantino contributed to this report
