Analysts at financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald are urging President Donald Trump to rethink his appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
In the days following the abrupt resignation of Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research head Peter Marks, blowback regarding the actions of President Donald Trump’s health appointees is growing.
According to several media reports on Monday, analysts at the prominent financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald have urged the president to re-assess Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Cantor analysts Josh Schimmer and Eric Schmidt said Kennedy was “undermining the trusted leadership of health care in this country,” Reuters reported, quoting the firm’s note.
The Department of Health and Human Services “cannot be led by an anti-vax, conspiracy theorist with inadequate training,” the note read. The Cantor analysts also wrote that Kennedy “is steering this country into dangerous territory based on his own whims and invalidated beliefs,” as per reporting from Bloomberg. “He’s ventured far outside of his swim lane. It’s time to take him out of the pool.”
The criticism is especially notable as Howard Lutnick, the current U.S. Secretary of Commerce, was previously the chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald. Brandon Lutnick, his son, became chairman when his father took the Secretary of Commerce position.
Also on Monday, a Politico article revealed that newly confirmed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary had given his blessing to remove Marks from his post as the country’s top vaccine authority. Marks was reportedly given the option to resign or be fired.
Kennedy, who ultimately made the decision to oust Marks, only did so after Makary agreed, according to Politico.
Marks’ sudden resignation came as a blow to the biopharma industry, sending several stocks crashing on Monday. In a note to investors, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said Marks’ departure will introduce a “new wave of uncertainty at FDA” and will be “a significant negative for the biopharma and biotech sectors.”
Marks has served as the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) since 2016. He has a documented history of backing vaccines, and is a proponent of regulatory flexibility and expedited reviews, particularly for rare diseases. These put him at odds with Kennedy, a known critic of vaccines at large and broad immunization policies more specifically.
In his resignation letter, Marks wrote that he was open to working with Kennedy and address his “concerns regarding vaccine safety.” But Marks’ differences with the new HHS leadership appeared too big to overcome.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote.
