Trump’s FDA pick Makary boosts BioPharma confidence, says BMO

Investing.com– President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Martin Makary as FDA commissioner has been welcomed by the BioPharma sector, with investors optimistic that his nomination will alleviate uncertainty in the industry, according to BMO Capital Markets.

However, concerns are mounting over his choice of Dave Weldon as director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), given the Florida congressman’s controversial views on vaccination.

Last week, Trump nominated surgeon and writer Marty Makary to lead the world’s most influential drug regulator and named Dave Weldon, a former congressman and a medical doctor, as his choice for director of the CDC.

Makary’s nomination is expected to provide a reprieve to the BioPharma sector, which experienced sharp declines earlier this year when Robert F. Kennedy Jr was nominated as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), BMO analyst Evan David Seigerman said in a note.

BMO noted that the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE:XBI) (XBI) fell 11% during the afore-mentioned week.

Market participants note that Makary’s background in healthcare, combined with his public engagement on critical issues, makes him an appealing figure for the FDA. His support for patient-centered care and evidence-based medicine aligns with BioPharma’s long-term interests, particularly when it comes to regulatory reform and approval processes.

“Dr. Makary is likely to have more reasonable approach to running the FDA than has been feared—he appears well-versed across the continuum of U.S. healthcare and is supportive of evidence-based medical intervention,” Seigerman wrote.

Dave Weldon’s nomination to head the CDC, however, has raised concerns in public health circles, particularly due to his long history of questioning the safety of vaccines. As a congressman, Weldon was an outspoken critic of childhood immunizations and challenged the safety of the Gardasil vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), a stance that aligned with the broader anti-vaccine movement.

Trump also chose family medicine doctor and Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat to be surgeon general.

Nesheiwat, who served as a medical commentator during the COVID pandemic and participated in Trump’s opioid summit, is expected to focus on public health issues such as the opioid crisis, said Seigerman.