SHAKING IT UP — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to axe members of the department’s vaccine-centric panels of outside advisers who he deems to be too cozy with the drug industry, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn scooped with your morning hosts. The advisory committees, the most prominent of which provide recommendations to the FDA and the CDC, are made up of doctors and academics with expertise in science. While agency heads aren’t compelled to heed their advice — and have drawn controversy when they don’t — they often do. Kennedy intends to replace members he believes have conflicts of interest, one person familiar with the planning said. The former head of Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine advocacy group, has long argued that pharma companies have too much influence over the drug approval process. First hit? The CDC’s panel known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is a likely target of the effort and perhaps the most powerful because it recommends who should be vaccinated. HHS confirmed Thursday that the group’s three-day meeting that had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday is postponed. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the meeting is being “postponed to accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting.” He did not respond to follow-up requests for comment on Kennedy's plans to shake up the outside advisory committees. CDC declined to comment. An FDA-approved vaccine can’t be offered to the public until the ACIP weighs in on how it should be used — such as whether individuals over a certain age should get more than one dose — and then the CDC must endorse it. The group’s pediatric recommendations are the backbone of the childhood immunization schedule, which many states rely on to set vaccine mandates for students. ACIP traditionally meets three times a year to review the latest vaccine data and recommend for or against use of any newly FDA-approved products. One product — a meningitis vaccine by GSK targeting five strains of the bacteria — had been scheduled for votes on its use and inclusion in the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free shots to low-income kids. “Delays to ACIP processes and recommendations can prevent access to FDA-approved vaccines, putting people at risk from preventable diseases,” a GSK spokesperson said in a statement. Reaction (or lack thereof): Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine inventor and member of the FDA’s outside panel, said Kennedy’s assertion that doctors like him are too conflicted to serve on those committees is baseless, as members are regularly vetted for conflicts of interest. “What he really means is, ‘They haven’t supported my fixed, immutable notion that vaccines are dangerous,’” Offit told Prescription Pulse. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the health panel chair who secured Kennedy’s commitment to leave ACIP unchanged in exchange for his vote to confirm, was noticeably silent Thursday. In a Wednesday X post, the Louisiana Republican defended Kennedy’s remarks at an HHS welcome event. When asked about the ACIP delay, one former congressional staffer, after using an expletive, said: “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?” IT’S FRIDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PRESCRIPTION PULSE. Are you involved with a federal vaccine committee? We want to hear from you. Send your tips to David Lim (dlim@politico.com or @davidalim) and Lauren Gardner (lgardner@politico.com or @Gardner_LM).
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