Healthcare stocks rose Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index adding 0.8% and the State Street Healthcare Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) increasing 0.5%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) eased 0.1%.
In corporate news, Personalis (PSNL) shares jumped past 7% after the company said the Molecular Diagnostic Services Program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expanded coverage for its NeXT Personal minimal residual disease test.
Assertio (ASRT) shares rose 3.4% after the company said Wednesday it agreed to be acquired by Zydus Lifesciences subsidiary Zydus Worldwide DMCC in an all-cash tender offer valued at about $166.4 million.
UroGen Pharma's (URGN) Zusduri treatment demonstrated a 64.5% 36-month duration of response in a pivotal phase 3 trial in recurrent low-grade intermediate-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, the company said Wednesday. Its shares rose 1.9%.