The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, which tracks the biotech sector, was down 5.3 percent when markets closed Friday.
Shares in major pharmaceutical companies also dipped. For example:
- Eli Lilly shares fell 4.9 percent
- Pfizer 4.5 percent
-
Amgen nearly 4.3 percent
- Novo Nordisk 3.4 percent
The announcement sparked alarm among Democrats and public health experts who are concerned Kennedy, who does not have a medical or public health degree, could overhaul the workings and funding of key agencies and exacerbate vaccine hesitancy.
As part of its mission to “enhance the health and well-being of all Americans,” the HHS oversees the approval of drugs and medical supplies through its Food and Drug Administration and responds to disease outbreaks through its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trump said in a Thursday post on the social media platform X that “HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country.”
Beyond his well-known vaccine skepticism, Kennedy’s stated aims to lower prescription drug prices, curb direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, reallocate half of the National Institutes of Health budget “toward preventive, alternative and holistic approaches to health” and more have the pharmaceutical industry on edge.
A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade association representing the U.S. pharmaceutical industries, declined to comment on member companies’ stock prices.
PhRMA president and CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement Thursday following Kennedy’s nomination that the trade association wants to “work with the Trump administration to further strengthen our innovation ecosystem and improve health care for patients.”
