Cantor analyst rarely criticized US Health Secretary, saying "wrong decisions will backfire on government's reputation", causing the biotechnology sector to collectively plummet

Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald's two biotechnology analysts, Josh Himer and Eric Schmidt, publicly criticized US Health Secretary Kennedy's leadership, calling on the Trump administration to "reassess the position of this minister" after FDA vaccine chief Peter Marks was forced to resign. The report, released at noon on Monday with harsh language, caused a stir in the financial industry. The trigger for the event was the sudden resignation of Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics. The core official responsible for vaccine approval revealed in his resignation letter that he was forced to leave on the spot due to "irreconcilable professional differences with senior leadership" - either resign voluntarily or be immediately dismissed. The analysts at the firm harshly criticized in a report titled "We Stand with Marks": "Health Secretary Kennedy is leading the country into dangerous territory with personal imaginations, his overstepping of boundaries has exceeded reasonable limits, and his position must be terminated immediately." The market impact of this report was immediate. After the news broke, the biotechnology and vaccine sectors experienced a collective sell-off, with the S&P Biotechnology ETF (XBI.US) plunging 6% during the session, marking the largest drop in nearly three months. It is worth noting that Cantor, which released the report, had its former CEO Howard Lutnick currently serving as the Commerce Secretary in the Trump administration, making the criticism more politically sensitive. Wall Street analysts typically avoid directly calling for the replacement of political officials, but Himer and Schmidt emphasized that their stance was "purely based on professional judgment." They pointed out that the current government has previously shown a capacity for correction and should realize that the "current Health Secretary is undermining the public health system, and his erroneous decisions will eventually harm the government's reputation." The report also launched a reader survey asking whether they support Kennedy's retention and Marks' reinstatement. This incident reflects deep-seated contradictions in the US public health system. The FDA, as the core agency for vaccine approval, has long been threatened by political interference. Marks' resignation has drawn congressional attention, with Democratic lawmakers demanding an investigation into whether there is a phenomenon of "politics overriding science." Analysts warn that if regulatory independence continues to be compromised, it could shake global confidence in US-produced vaccines, posing a significant risk to the ongoing fall vaccination plan.