Summarised by Centrist
US drugmakers lost billions Monday after reports that Dr Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine official, was forced to resign.
Marks is the most high-profile departure yet amid Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul federal health agencies alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Marks’ exit, effective April 5, sent biotech stocks into a tailspin, with the S&P 500 biotech ETF plunging nearly 5% and Moderna dropping more than 12%.
Marks, who had played a pivotal role in Operation Warp Speed, criticised Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric in his resignation letter, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Kennedy, long known for questioning vaccine safety, has vowed to gut the health bureaucracy and is reportedly planning to fire thousands of federal workers as part of his revamp.
Biotech names most reliant on regulatory stability were hit hardest: Novavax and BioNTech both fell up to 8%, while gene therapy firms like Taysha, Solid Biosciences, and Sarepta dropped between 10% and 30%.
“This unfortunate update does nothing to reassure investors,” said BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman, noting biotech was already under “immense pressure.” Investors now face added uncertainty about the future of accelerated drug approvals and regulatory support for rare disease therapies.
