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Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Lower in Afternoon Trading

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-- Healthcare stocks declined Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index falling 1% and the State Street Healthcare Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) shedding 0.9%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.4% higher.

In corporate news, Zoetis (ZTS) shares fell past 6% after Ameriprise downgraded the stock to hold from buy following its Q1 results Thursday. UBS cut the company's price target to $99 from $130, and Jefferies to $117 from $155.

Traws Pharma (TRAW) shares surged 24%. The company said Friday it plans to develop potential therapies for the treatment and prevention of hantavirus infections using its portfolio of antiviral drug candidates targeting negative-strand RNA viruses.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) saw a 40% month-on-month surge in April sales of its diabetes and weight-loss drugs in India after slashing prices, despite a flood of generic versions, Bloomberg reported, citing data from market researcher Pharmarack. Novo added 0.2%.

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