Vaccine makers fall on reports top FDA vaccine official to resign

** Shares of vaccine makers fall premarket after the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported on Friday that Peter Marks, a top vaccine official at the U.S. FDA, has been pushed out of the agency

** Shares of Moderna MRNA.O fall 13.7%; Novavax NVAX.O slides 7.4% and Pfizer PFE.N down 1.6%

** BioNTech BNTX.O down 5.5% and U.S.-listed shares of GSK Plc GSK.L fall 1.4%

** Marks played a key role in U.S. President Donald Trump's first term in developing COVID-19 vaccines

** Marks was given the choice by a Health and Human Services official to resign or be fired, according to WSJ, which also reported that his resignation is effective April 5

** The stocks have been under pressure since Trump was elected for a second term, and selected well-known vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, U.S.'s top health agency