Healthcare stocks declined Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index decreasing 0.8% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) shedding 0.7%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was fractionally lower.
In corporate news, Moderna (MRNA) shares fell 4.5% after it said Thursday it plans to offer $2 billion worth of convertible senior notes due 2032 in a private placement.
HealthEquity (HQY) shares fell past 11% after the company posted fiscal Q2 results.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) said Thursday that China's National Medical Products Administration has accepted its marketing application for the oral version of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, Reuters reported. Reuters said the regulator's acceptance of the application is not approval to sell Novo Nordisk's once-daily semaglutide tablets to patients in China, but rather that officials have determined that the application is complete and may enter formal review. Novo shares were down 2.1%.