Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Fall Late Afternoon
Health care stocks declined late Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index down 1.1% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) shedding 1%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) decreased 0.4%.In corporate news, Tvardi Therapeutics (TVRD) shares fell 4.1% after Barclays downgraded the company's stock to underweight from equalweight and adjusted the price target to $3 from $4.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 0.6%.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 42%, and GH Research jumped 17%.Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) shares climbed 18% 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.