US President Donald Trump, along with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L) and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (R), will speak to the press in the White House oval office in Washington, D.C. on February 25, 2025, before signing the executive order.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Anti-vaccine crusade Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not qualified to take power in an agency that is supposed to protect American health, said research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, previously led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Cantor’s memo came when Peter Marks, head of the FDA’s biology department, stepped down in protest of Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism. Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, has taken steps to say public health experts can block the US’s daily vaccination
“We call on the administration to reevaluate the role of RFK JR in HHS. To push out one of the FDA’s most trusted leaders and promote the anti-science agenda is a step too far for us.” “HHS cannot lead to inadequately trained anti-vax conspiracy theorists.”
Kennedy downplayed the importance of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, and promoted unproven treatments to combat the outbreak 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.
“Amateur scientists who don’t appreciate the need for difficult public health policy decisions, fighting causality and correlation differences, promoting unproven remedies at the expense of proven things are not in our view the right person for the job,” writes Cantor analysts.
Shares of vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax, along with a variety of other biotechnology companies, were sold heavily on Monday after Mark’s resignation. Moderna and Novavax both drove over 8%, while SPDR S&P Biotech ETF slipped nearly 4%.
“This has nothing to do with stocks, but the biotech tape may shake up from Marks’ resignation, but that’s not important,” said an analyst who usually gives clients opinions on whether to buy or sell certain stocks. “This is much bigger than that.”
HHS did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
“We already had unnecessary measles deaths. Now is the time to end the story of “just taking vitamins” and “give individuals freedom” the story of vaccines that can cause autism. The analyst wrote.
Lutnick resigned in February as chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald after being confirmed as Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick led an investment bank for 40 years.
