President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr, popularly known as RFK Jr as the secretary of the premier US health agency—the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—in a move that is likely to significantly affect the healthcare sector.
The news, first reported by Politico around 30 minutes before markets closed in the US had an immediate negative impact on the share prices of several prominent vaccine makers, like Pfizer, Sanofi, BioNTech, to name a few. Soon after President-elect Donald Trump announced his appointment on the platform X, confirming the news, ending speculation on RFK Jr’s role in the new administration after several days.
RFK Jr’s views on vaccine safety and stance of pushing through on thoroughly debunked claims of links to autism have been central in all discussions leading up to this announcement. After the US elections results, CEO of the major vaccine maker GSK Emma Walmsley said the sector was adopting a wait and see approach gauge impact based on who is appointed to key positions.
“Appointing RFK the position as health secretary may have damaging implications for the US healthcare. Given his anti-vaccine rhetoric and negative comments towards the FDA, it raises questions for the future of US drug approvals and the FDA’s regulatory power, “ says Cyrus Fan, GlobalData Healthcare analyst.
However, in order to successfully hold this appointment, RFK Jr will need to be successfully navigate the confirmation process. The next step is for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing after about a month of gathering evidence on the candidate. After hearing testimonies for and against the nominee the committee sends its recommendation to the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. The Senate then votes on the nominee after a debate. In case of a tie, the vice-president, JD Vance, would hold the deciding vote.
The US Department for Health and Human Sciences (HHS) oversees several major agencies in charge of governing drugs, vaccines, medical devices and clinical research, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additionally, the HHS department would also oversee the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—which funds several research projects, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—which oversees the reimbursement of drugs under the public healthcare system, and others.
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By GlobalDataIn his tweet announcing the appointment Trump said, “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health………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.” He went on to single RFK Jr’s plans for targeting chronic diseases, a pet project of the HHS Secretary hopeful.
