RFK Jr. guts ACIP. What happens next?

Politico

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Driving the day
ACIP FIRINGS ROCK WASHINGTON — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly removed 17 vaccine experts from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Monday — and Washington is already reeling.
'The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,' Kennedy wrote in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal. He wrote that the decision is meant to restore faith in vaccines.
Public health experts and Democrats immediately condemned the action — which POLITICO reported was under consideration in February.
'This is absolutely unprecedented. RFK Jr. has many levers at his disposal to influence vaccine policy in the U.S., each with varying degrees of impact. But this move is a red-alert, level 4 alarm,' said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who's consulted for the CDC.
The biopharmaceutical industry also raised concerns.
'A wholesale change of this manner will negatively affect the Committee's ability to deliberate and make well-informed recommendations, putting American lives at risk,' Biotechnology Innovation Organization CEO John Crowley said in a statement. 'We agree that transparency is key to restoring trust in immunizations; however, the actions taken today upend a time-tested system that has protected American public health.'
The removal of the experts also appears to buck the commitment Kennedy made to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to 'maintain' the committee 'without changes.'
But Cassidy told reporters at the U.S. Capitol that he spoke with Kennedy twice Monday and that the assurance he'd won from the now-secretary concerned ACIP's structure rather than membership.
'Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,' Cassidy posted on X after the announcement.
That fear was echoed by Democrats — who slammed the decision as a dangerous action that puts the health of Americans at risk.
'Secretary Kennedy is firing the 17 medical experts that advise our nation on immunization practices so he can stack the panel with a bunch of anti-vaccine wackos,' House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in a statement.
Remember: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary slammed ACIP as a 'kangaroo court' earlier this month on CBS' 'Face the Nation.'
What's next: HHS said ACIP will still meet June 25-27, but with new membership.
IT'S TUESDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PRESCRIPTION PULSE. Do you know how the decision to fire ACIP members went down?
Send your tips to David Lim ([e-mail], @davidalim or davidalim.49 on Signal) and Lauren Gardner ([e-mail], @Gardner_LM or gardnerlm.01 on Signal).
Eye on the FDA
DECISION TIME ON RSV — Two drug products targeting respiratory syncytial virus — a common bug that can cause severe illness in young babies and older adults — are on deck FDA decisions this week.
Another antibody: The agency approved Merck's preventive monoclonal antibody Monday — a day ahead of schedule — for infants' first RSV season, injecting more competition into the RSV market.
The company has designed the drug, dubbed Enflonsia, to be the same single dose administered to babies of any weight — a departure from Sanofi's Beyfortus, which is made in different dosage amounts depending on a baby or toddler's age and weight.
Dr. Octavio Ramilo of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, who worked as an investigator for Merck's trials for the drug, said its 'dosing convenience' and strong evidence showing reductions in disease and hospitalization make Enflonsia 'a promising new intervention to help protect infants from RSV.'
Merck said it expects the CDC's external vaccine panel to make recommendations for the antibody's use at its next meeting in late June. The company statement came out just before HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s op-ed on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was published.
Another vaccine? Moderna is slated to get a decision on its mRNA vaccine for RSV in high-risk adults under 60 by Thursday. The FDA approved mResvia last year for adults 60 and older, and the company has said the shot met its study goals in the younger population.
But Kennedy's suspicion of mRNA technology has prompted the federal government to pull funding from Moderna's bird flu vaccine program and to condition future Covid vaccine approvals for healthy people on more data, making the FDA's decision this week worth watching.
Moderna stopped working on a version of the vaccine for children last year after receiving reports of severe lower respiratory tract infections in immunized trial participants.
In Congress
IN THE HOT SEAT — President Donald Trump's cuts to ideologically disfavored research have left the National Institutes of Health with unspent funds.
Director Jay Bhattacharya, under pressure from critics on Capitol Hill and in the research community, is pledging to change that. But Democrats will get a chance to ask Bhattacharya for more details when he testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee this morning.
Pharma Moves
Dr. Jennifer Peña is joining women's telehealth company Wisp as chief medical officer. She previously worked in similar roles at Oscar Health and Nurx and served as a White House physician under Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Document Drawer
The FDA is publicizing a voluntary recall by Church & Dwight Co. of its Zicam nasal swabs and Orajel baby teething swabs due to potential fungi microbial contamination in the cotton swab components. No serious adverse events have been reported to date.
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is reviewing a 340B rebate guidance from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
WHAT WE'RE READING
STAT's Helen Branswell examines efforts by philanthropic leaders to maintain a network of labs that conduct surveillance of measles and rubella around the world following cuts by the Trump administration to global aid dollars.
A bipartisan bill that tackles tools Medicare Advantage plans use to get higher payments from the federal government could be included in Senate Republicans' megabill, but a key Democrat doesn't want it in the package, POLITICO's Robert King and Meredith Lee Hill report.
Nearly 50 food industry groups and companies are being invited by the White House to discuss a recent report on its Make America Healthy Again goals, POLITICO's Grace Yarrow reports.