CSL, Neuren shares fall as Trump picks RFK Jr to run US health department
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The news: Healthcare was the worst performing sector by afternoon trade, tracking similar falls on Wall Street after US president-elect Donald Trump nominated vocal vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Junior to lead the US Department of Health and Humans Services last week.
The numbers: The healthcare sector was down 1.04%, compared to the wider ASX 200 that was up 0.33% by 3:40pm AEDT.
Major vaccine manufacturer CSL was down 1.88% to $271.82, having fallen nearly 10% in the last month.
Fellow ASX biotech and healthcare majors Neuren Pharmaceuticals (-6.3%), Sigma Healthcare (-2.9%) and Telix Pharmaceuticals (-0.9%) were also trading lower during afternoon trading.
The context: Last week, shares in US vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna, as well as in European counterparts GSK and Sanofi, all fell on new of Kennedy's nomination, Reuters reported.
Kennedy became a prominent anti-vaccine voice during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also promised that the Trump White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water, claiming that fluoride is "an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease".
