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Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Gain Thursday Afternoon

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Healthcare stocks were higher Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index climbing 3.2% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) rising 2.8%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 2.2%.

In corporate news, Eli Lilly (LLY) shares climbed 5% after Ascidian Therapeutics said Lilly will receive exclusive, target-specific rights to Ascidian's RNA exon editing technology for undisclosed kidney disease targets in exchange for up to $1.9 billion under a research partnership and licensing deal.

Merck (MRK) shares rose 3.9% after it said Thursday it will pay over $50 million to settle more than 200 lawsuits that blame the drugmaker's Gardasil cancer vaccine for causing autoimmune ailments in young women, Bloomberg reported.

BofA Securities upgraded UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from neutral as medical cost trends improvement and "supportive" near-term data points form a favorable Q2. UnitedHealth shares gained 5.2%.

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