Stocks of major vaccine makers dropped on Monday after the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official Dr. Peter Marks resigned, citing conflicts with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s over his views on immunization. (RFK Jr. is a longtime critic of vaccines and has a history of making controversial and scientifically inaccurate claims.)
Shares of Moderna (MRNA) slid 11%, Novavax (NVAX) was down 6%, BioNTech (BNTX) fell about 7%, and Pfizer (PFE) dropped 2% in early trading. Meanwhile, gene therapy developers including Solid Biosciences (SLDB),Taysha Gene Therapies (TSHA) plummeted between 14% and 29% by midday. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF fell almost 5%. (At the time of this writing, Moderna was down almost 9%, Novavax was down about 7%, and Pfizer was down about 1% in midday trading.)
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote in his resignation letter to acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, in reference to HHS secretary RFK Jr.
According to the Wall Street Journal , Marks was forced on Friday to either resign, or be fired. Marks has been with the FDA since 2012, and has overseen the division for vaccines, biotech drugs and blood products since 2016. During the pandemic, Marks was a key member of the team that oversaw the production of the Covid-19 vaccines.
His departure is raising serious concerns on Wall Street about the future of drug approval and safety in the U.S., with some analysts questioning if the move will hamper the FDA’s ability to ensure safe and effective treatments that will reach patients, and about how this might effect the biotech industry.
“It’s no secret that biotech has been under immense pressure recently given broader macro issues, this unfortunate update does nothing to reassure investors or provide relief,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman told Reuters.
Marks’ departure comes as RFK Jr. plans to lay off 10,000 employees at HHS and close regional offices, in a bid to reshape the country’s health agencies as part of the Trump Administration’s cost-cutting agenda.
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