RFK Jr.'s Next Targets Are Companies Making Baby Formula
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to meet Tuesday with executives of companies that make infant formula in the US, according to people familiar with the roundtable discussion.
It's unclear exactly which companies will be represented. Firms that sell infant formula include Abbott Laboratories, which makes Similac, Enfamil maker Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, and relative newcomer Bubs Australia Ltd. HHS didn't respond to a request for comment.
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2 hours ago
RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be halted. Kennedy's decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic's doubts about shots into full effect at the nation's health department. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened. The health secretary criticized mRNA vaccines in a video on his social media accounts, explaining the decision to cancel projects being led by the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, that offer protection against viruses like the flu, COVID-19 and H5N1. 'To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we're prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don't collapse when viruses mutate," Kennedy said in the video. Infectious disease experts say the mRNA technology used in vaccines is safe, and they credit its development during the first Trump administration with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Future pandemics, they warned, will be harder to stop without the help of mRNA. 'I don't think I've seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,' said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations. He noted mRNA technology offers potential advantages of rapid production, crucial in the event of a new pandemic that requires a new vaccine. The shelving of the mRNA projects is short-sighted as concerns about a bird flu pandemic continue to loom, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 'It's certainly saved millions of lives,' Offit said of the existing mRNA vaccines. Scientists are using mRNA for more than infectious disease vaccines, with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer immunotherapies. At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer. Traditionally, vaccines have required growing pieces of viruses, often in chicken eggs or giant vats of cells, then purifying that material. The mRNA approach starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Scientists pick the protein to target, inject that blueprint and the body makes just enough to trigger immune protection — producing its own vaccine dose. In a statement Tuesday, HHS said 'other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement." The mRNA technology is used in approved COVID-19 and RSV shots, but has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna, which was studying a combination COVID-19 and flu mRNA shot, had said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with traditional vaccines. The abandoned mRNA projects signal a 'shift in vaccine development priorities,' the health department said in its statement, adding that it will start 'investing in better solutions.' 'Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them," Kennedy said in the statement. Speaking hours later Tuesday at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, alongside the state's two Republican U.S. senators, Kennedy said work is underway on an alternative. He said a 'universal vaccine' that mimics 'natural immunity" is the administration's focus.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development
WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 and the flu. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be halted. Kennedy's decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic's doubts about shots into full effect at the nation's health department. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened. The health secretary criticized mRNA vaccines in a video on his social media accounts, explaining the decision to cancel projects being led by the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, that offer protection against viruses such as the flu, COVID-19 and H5N1. 'To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we're prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don't collapse when viruses mutate,' Kennedy said in the video. Infectious disease experts say the mRNA technology used in vaccines is safe, and they credit its development during the first Trump administration with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Future pandemics, they warned, will be harder to stop without the help of mRNA. 'I don't think I've seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,' said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations. He noted mRNA technology offers potential advantages of rapid production, crucial in the event of a new pandemic that requires a new vaccine. The shelving of the mRNA projects is short-sighted as concerns about a bird flu pandemic continue to loom, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 'It's certainly saved millions of lives,' Offit said of the existing mRNA vaccines. Scientists are using mRNA for more than infectious disease vaccines, with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer immunotherapies. At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer. Traditionally, vaccines have required growing pieces of viruses, often in chicken eggs or giant vats of cells, then purifying that material. The mRNA approach starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Scientists pick the protein to target, inject that blueprint and the body makes just enough to trigger immune protection — producing its own vaccine dose. In a statement Tuesday, HHS said 'other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement.' The mRNA technology is used in approved COVID-19 and RSV shots, but has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna, which was studying a combination COVID-19 and flu mRNA shot, had said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with traditional vaccines. The abandoned mRNA projects signal a 'shift in vaccine development priorities,' the health department said in its statement, adding that it will start 'investing in better solutions.' 'Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,' Kennedy said in the statement. Speaking hours later Tuesday at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, alongside the state's two Republican U.S. senators, Kennedy said work is underway on an alternative. He said a 'universal vaccine' that mimics 'natural immunity' is the administration's focus. 'It could be effective — we believe it's going to be effective — against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,' he said. Seitz writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington, Mike Stobbe in New York and Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed to this report.
UPI
3 hours ago
- UPI
Kennedy ends federal mRNA vaccine projects over experts' objections
1 of 3 | US President Donald Trump, left, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), who announced the department will pull back from research on mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Eric Lee/UPI | License Photo Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will begin pulling contracts to develop vaccines for respiratory viruses using mRNA technology, which was used for the COVID-19 shot. Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the move in a video posted to X on Tuesday saying that it will terminate 22 contracts worth $500 million after officials determined the "technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses." "Let me be absolutely clear," said Kennedy. "HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them, that's why we're moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions." The announcement follows other actions by Kennedy, a vocal vaccine critic, to reshape the federal government's approach to public health in ways that have rankled mainstream health experts. Kennedy has replaced members of a vaccine advisory panel with skeptics and stopped recommending COVID-19 inoculations for healthy children, contradicting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations. The use of mRNA technology is credited with hastening the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. But its rapid development and the novelty of the technology have left lingering worries over its safety and effectiveness despite reassurances from experts. Like previous moves, Kennedy's decision to end the contracts has drawn criticism from medical and public health experts. "I've tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current HHS actions -- but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives," Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as Surgeon General in the first Trump administration, said in a post on X. "mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines... and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions." Most vaccines have worked by using a weakened or dead virus to trigger a response in a patient's immune system. Vaccines that use messenger RNA, or mRNA, instead use a molecule that causes cells to replicate a part of the virus, triggering an immune response. A new flu vaccine developed by Moderna using the technology has shown promise. Kennedy said in his announcement that mRNA is ineffective and that vaccines using it encourage new mutations of the virus they are intended to target. He suggested the COVID-19 vaccine prolonged the pandemic and that the department would focus on research on "whole virus vaccines and novel platforms." Dr. Jake Scott, a clinical associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a post on X that "the claim that mRNA vaccine technology poses more risk than benefits is simply false." "What poses risk is abandoning the most adaptable, scalable vaccine platform we've ever had," he wrote. "Halting future development undermines pandemic preparedness at a time when we can least afford it."
