Trump Names Anti-Vaxxer Robert Kennedy As Health & Human Services Secretary: Here’s What It Means For Healthcare Stocks

Shares of biopharma companies levered to COVID-19 vaccines tumbled on Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump picked Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health & Human Services.

Confirming earlier speculation, Trump said on X, "I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services." Stating that the safety and health of Americans are a priority for his administration, the former president said Kennedy will play a big role in ensuring that the public is protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products and food additives that have aggravated the nation’s health crisis.

"Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, beacons of Transparency to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!" he added.

Anti-Vaccine Views: Kennedy ran the 2024 presidential race as an independent and subsequently quit, endorsing Trump instead.  He is a prominent anti-vaccine activist and claimed during the pandemic that childhood vaccinations could lead to autism.

 In a Jan. 2021 post on X, he said Hank Aaron’s death about two weeks after he received Moderna, Inc.’s ($MRNA) mRNA vaccine is part of a "wave of suspicious deaths among elderly closely following administration of #COVID #vaccines."

Since endorsing Trump in late-August, Kennedy has been very vocally promoting the “MAHA” theme, which stands for “Making America Healthy Again.” 

He said in a late-October X post that America’s war on public health is about to end, including aggressive suppression of "psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, cheating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health."

These can’t be patented by pharma companies, he said. The politician and environmental lawyer had a warning for FDA staffers, who are part of the corrupt system - "preserve your records" and "pack your bags."

Vaccine Stocks Lose Immunity: Following the confirmation from Trump, shares of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers moved steeply to the downside. Moderna, which specializes in the new-age vaccine technology named mRNA, ended Thursday’s session down 5.62% at $39.77.

Pfizer, Inc. ($PFE), which manufactures COVID vaccines along with German partner BioNTech SE ($BNTX), shed 2.62%. BioNTech fell a steeper 7.10%. British pharma giant GSK plc. ($GSK), also a vaccine play, retreated 2.05% to $34.39. Sanofi  ($SNY), which has a manufacturing partnership with Moderna, slid 3.41% to $47.82.

Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. ($EBS), which manufactures vaccines for smallpox, Mpox, and  anthrax, among others, retreated 7.02% to $9.27.

Most COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers reaped a windfall during the pandemic but have since then seen their sales plunge as the pandemic abated. Companies such as Moderna are now hope to see sales resurgence with next-generation COVID-19 vaccines and combo vaccine shots.

What Lies Ahead: In an interview with NPR earlier this month, Kennedy said the incoming administration won’t take vaccines away but will work toward ensuring that the public has good information. 

"The science on vaccine safety particularly has huge deficits, and we're going to make sure those scientific studies are done and that people can make informed choices about their vaccinations and their children's vaccinations," he said.

A New York Times report said if Kennedy is confirmed, he would have “sweeping control” over a department with 80,000 employees across 13 operating divisions that run over 100 programs.

Funding available for HHS is $3.09 trillion, or 22.8% of the fiscal year 2024 federal budget, according to USASpending.gov.

Apart from vaccines, Kennedy’s anti-obesity drug stance could hurt companies such as Eli Lilly & Co. ($LLY), Novo Nordisk A/S ($NVO) and Amgen, Inc. ($AMGN). 

Commenting on an NYT opinion piece on Obesity, Kennedy criticized mainstream media’s cheerleading for Ozempic, the popular obesity drug from  N0vo Nordisk’s stable.

Stocks that could react positively to the news could be:

Psychedelics companies such as Atai Life Sciences N.V. ($ATAI), Mind Medicine, Inc. ($MNMD), Cybin, Inc. ($CYBN) and Compass Pathways Plc. ($CMPS S) 

Hydroxychloroquine companies (manufacturers and suppliers of the anti-malaria drug) Sanofi, McKesson Corp. ($MCK), Novartis AG ($NVS), Viatris Inc.'s ($VTRS) Mylan Labs and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. ($TMO).

Nutraceutical companies such as Herbalife Ltd. ($HLF)

The IBB ended Thursday's session down 2.58% at $140.09.

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