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Stock prices in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors have continued to drop following President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) as his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

What’s the deal: As of today,

• Pfizer’s stock has dropped 4.4%.
• Eli Lilly has declined by 4.0%.
• Moderna has plunged nearly 8.6%.
• Novo Nordisk has fallen by more than 3.0%.

International markets are also experiencing sharp declines, with Danish-listed Novo Nordisk shares down over 5%, France’s Sanofi slipping more than 3%, and UK-based AstraZeneca and GSK both dropping over 3%.  

This comes as Trump has said that RFK will be able to “go wild” while at HHS. When announcing RFK’s appointment last night, he 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.” He continued, “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.”

In a statement, RFK said he was committed to advancing Trump’s “vision to Make America Healthy Again.” He added, “I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth. Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science.”

Trump’s former VP says no to RFK: As Trump has continued to embrace RFK, Former Vice President Mike Pence publicly called on Republican lawmakers to reject his nomination. In a statement, Pence said, “I believe the nomination of RFK Jr. to serve as Secretary of HHS is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of Pro-Life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades. For the majority of his career, RFK Jr. has defended abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy, supports overturning the Dobbs decision, and has called for legislation to codify Roe v Wade. If confirmed, RFK would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history.”