Finance News on November 15th (Editor Malan): On Thursday, Trump announced his nomination of former independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the new US government. For pharmaceutical companies, this is a nightmare come true.

If Kennedy is approved by the Senate and becomes the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the USA, he will lead one of the largest departments, overseeing areas including Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some of Kennedy's policy proposals are quite radical. Since 2005, he has been promoting anti-vaccine information and publicly stating that there is opaque information within the USA government regarding public health. Despite many of his claims being debunked and criticized by health experts, Kennedy remains resolute on relevant issues.

As early as October, Trump promised Kennedy, who helped in his campaign, that if he returns to the White House, he will allow Kennedy to act 'crazy' on health issues.

Kennedy himself stated after Trump's victory announcement that he will advocate for the cleanup of some corrupt public departments, such as the nutrition department under the Food and Drug Administration, which must be completely eliminated.

A disaster?

Kennedy comes from a political family, his father being the late US Attorney General and Democratic Senator Robert Kennedy, and his uncle being former US President John Kennedy.

Kennedy himself early on dedicated himself to environmental issues and children's welfare. After working as a local prosecutor in the United States, he joined and founded multiple social organizations to raise public and governmental awareness of health and well-being. Additionally, he gained widespread fame for winning several lawsuits against major corporations regarding pollution.

From this perspective, the 70-year-old Kennedy has considerable experience in public health, making it easier for him to integrate into government affairs compared to former Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, appointed by Trump.

Trump emphasized at the announcement of the appointment that, for a long time, Americans have been exploited by industrial food companies and pharmaceutical groups, deceiving, misleading, and falsifying in public health issues. He hopes that Kennedy can clean up the corruption within federal health agencies.

However, Kennedy's policy goals have caused widespread market unease. After Kennedy was confirmed as Trump's nominee, pharmaceutical stocks related to vaccines collectively fell in the final hour of Thursday's post-market trading. Moderna's stock price fell by over 5%, Novavax's stock price fell by over 7%, and Pfizer dropped by over 2%. Other pharmaceutical companies like Germany's BioNTech also experienced declines of over 6%. These stocks were further sold off in post-market trading.

Among them, $Moderna (MRNA.US)$ The stock price fell by more than 5%. $Novavax (NVAX.US)$ Stocks fell by over 7%. $Pfizer (PFE.US)$ Fell by over 2%. Other pharmaceutical companies such as German $BioNTech (BNTX.US)$ also experienced a drop of over 6%. These stocks were further sold off in post-market trading in the US.

Andrea Ducas, Vice President of Health Policy at the Progressive Center for American Progress, stated that Trump's choice of Kennedy is nothing short of a disaster for the United States. Kennedy's long-standing skepticism towards medical science could jeopardize America's achievements in public health, especially in the time of COVID-19, where vaccines have helped prevent countless infections and deaths.

Editor / jayden