RFK Jr. Snipped the Strings on Big Pharma’s Inside Man… Now the Whole Industry’s in Panic Mode

If you’re one of the brave souls who said, “Biotech looks cheap, time to buy the dip,” I have a simple piece of advice… close the app. Because even though it feels like spring outside, biotech’s long winter doesn’t seem like it’s gonna end for quite awhile… especially since RFK has it in a chokehold.

 

For instance, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), the go-to thermometer for biotech’s overall health, has a high fever. It’s down 4% today, now sitting at $80. And the biggest vaccine names aren’t doing any better… Moderna’s down 10.5%, Novavax is down 8%, and Vaxcyte decided to full send itself off a cliff, collapsing a ridiculous 54% after reporting bad results on its pneumococcal vaccine for babies. Needless to say, it’s not a great day to be in the business of shots.

But the real story isn’t on Wall Street this time… it’s in D.C., where the pharmaceutical puppet strings just got cut.

Peter Marks, the longtime head of the FDA’s biologics division (aka the dude who fast-tracked every gene therapy and mRNA jab the market’s been salivating over) just resigned. On paper, it was a “personal decision.” In reality? RFK Jr. shoved him out of the lifeboat and didn’t bother pretending otherwise.

Marks, of course, came out swinging in his resignation letter, accusing RFK Jr. (now head of Health and Human Services) of spreading “misinformation and lies.” But let’s cut through the spin. Marks wasn’t some neutral lab coat. This guy was a biotech insider’s dream… greenlighting billion-dollar treatments, decreasing regulatory timelines, and bending over backward to get new drugs out the door. His “flexibility” was a huge ally for Big Pharma. (And by “flexibility,” we mean, “sure, this drug barely works, but let’s give it a shot anyway.”)

RFK Jr., on the other hand, isn’t playing ball. He’s not letting these companies get in bed with regulators like they’re all sharing a yacht off Martha’s Vineyard. And biotech’s having a meltdown over it. Because for the first time in a long time, someone’s actually asking uncomfortable questions… like, “Why is the guy approving billion-dollar treatments the same one getting praise from the companies that sell them?”

The reaction has been... dramatic. Investors dumped biotech stocks like they just found out the clinical trial results were printed in crayon. Gene therapy companies Wall Street used to love like Sarepta and Crispr slid. Other innovation plays dipped too (too many to count).

And it’s not just Marks. There’s chatter of up to 3,500 FDA jobs getting cut. Multiple senior officials in the agency’s oncology division are reportedly polishing their resumes. Even Richard Pazdur, the man with the final say on cancer drugs, is rumored to be considering a quiet exit. Ironically enough, new FDA commissioner Marty Makary hasn’t even finished decorating his office, and analysts are already wondering if he’ll survive the storm.

Wall Street’s crying into their biotech ETFs. RBC called the resignation “unsurprising” but also “not good.” William Blair labeled it a “significant overhang.” Leerink said high-valuation names are now extra vulnerable. In other words: a bunch of companies that built their valuations on maybe getting approval someday are now realizing the gravy train might’ve pulled out of the station.

What’s happening here isn’t an economic driven selloff. It’s a system getting exposed. For years, biotech has operated on handshake deals… promising miracle cures while the FDA waved things through with a smile and a rubber stamp. Now, RFK Jr. is ripping off the mask and calling the bluff.

So yeah, if you’re holding Big Pharma stocks, it could be a rocky few months. But let’s be logical… vaccines aren’t disappearing, and neither is innovation. This might just be the correction the sector needed… and a great buying opportunity.

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Stock.News has positions in Moderna.