SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges downgraded six drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline.
He also downgraded six companies to market perform from outperform: GlaxoSmithKline, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Morphosys, Translate Bio, Assembly Biosciences and Acceleron Pharma. Five of those companies saw their stock prices dip on Tuesday, while Translate Bio gained 4%. It has yet to be announced who will lead the FDA. Agency veteran Janet Woodcock was named acting commissioner in January.
There are also signs that the lack of a permanent FDA commissioner is affecting one of the most highly watched drugs of the year: Biogen's Alzheimer's disease treatment aducanumab. , with an eye toward taking a more aggressive stance against drug-company deals that may harm competition.