Healthcare stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Healthcare Index gaining 0.4% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) increasing 0.3%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 0.5%.
In corporate news, BioNTech's (BNTX) cancer-drug pipeline is showing stronger early results and is approaching several important clinical milestones, improving confidence in the company's long-term outlook, UBS Securities said. BioNTech shares rose 1.4%.
Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) shares jumped 9.7% after the company said it will resubmit its new drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks for relacorilant to treat Cushing's syndrome.
Boston Scientific (BSX) shares slumped 12% after CEO Mike Mahoney said this year has been "a bit more of a challenge" than anticipated.
Guardant Health (GH) shares gained 5.6% after the company said its Shield blood test has been included in the American Cancer Society's updated Colorectal Cancer Screening guidelines.