Appointing an unqualified anti-vaccine activist as US health secretary was a bold move even by Donald Trump’s standards – too bold, say exasperated biotech analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald.
The analysts, Josh Schimmer and Eric Schmidt, hit the headlines after penning an excoriating note warning that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) “cannot be led by an anti-vax, conspiracy theorist with inadequate training” – that is, by Robert Kennedy jnr.
The note was titled “We Stand With Peter Marks” – a reference to the top vaccine official who resigned from the US Food and Drug Administration and who accused Kennedy of wanting “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies”.
The news was greeted with alarm by investors, with vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax both suffering double-digit percentage declines in the days following the Marks resignation.
Nevertheless, the Cantor analysts were at pains to say their note “has nothing to do with stocks”, stating the issue is “much bigger than that”. It certainly is. Perhaps someone might have a word with former Cantor Fitzgerald boss Howard Lutnick – now Donald Trump’s commerce secretary.
