Leaked memo reportedly shows biotech lobby group’s opposition to RFK Jr.

One of the leading lobby groups of the biotech industry, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), has named HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as a “direct threat to public health,” Brownstone Institute reported, citing an apparent memo from a recent BIO meeting.

BIO includes COVID vaccine makers such as Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Novavax (NVAX), as well as pharma giants, including Merck (NYSE:MRK), J&J (NYSE:JNJ), Eli Lilly (LLY), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), and Novo Nordisk (NVO) under its membership.

The memo titled “BIO Vaccine Policy Steering Committee—April 3, 2025,” noted, “there are now definitive examples of RFK Jr.’s threat to vaccines and public health.” Highlights of the meeting’s executive summary indicated that “It is time to go to The Hill and lobby that it is time for RFK Jr. to go… communicate what’s going on.”

BIO’s criticism came as RFK Jr., a well-known vaccine skeptic, continues to shake up the departments under his watch. In April, biotech stocks traded lower after the FDA’s top vaccine official, Peter Marks, resigned, citing Kennedy’s “misinformation and lies’ against the U.S. vaccination efforts.