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FINWIRES

Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Softer Monday Afternoon

-- Health care stocks declined Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) each shedding 0.5%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was down 0.2%.

In corporate news, Eli Lilly (LLY) has agreed to buy clinical-stage biotechnology firm Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion, as the drugmaker looks to bolster its cancer treatment portfolio. Lilly shares were easing 0.1%.

Compass Pathways (CMPS), GH Research (GHRS), and other psychedelic companies' shares were up on Monday, after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday to expedite access to treatments for patients with serious mental illness. Compass shares surged 47%, and GH Research jumped 15%.

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) shares climbed 22% after it said Monday that data from a 16-week extension period of its phase 2b study of rezpegaldesleukin showed a "deepening of response" in people with severe-to-very-severe alopecia areata.

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