Health care stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) each adding 0.7%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.6%.
In corporate news, Immutep (IMMP) shares jumped 9%. The company said Thursday its investigational drug eftilagimod alpha, or efti, combined with Merck's (MRK) Keytruda and doublet chemotherapy achieved a response rate of 60.8% and disease control rate of 90.2% in people with non-small cell lung cancer in an investigator-initiated trial.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) responded Wednesday to a Wall Street Journal report about a US Department of Justice criminal investigation linked to the company's Medicare Advantage program. The company said it has not received any notification from the DOJ and described the WSJ report, without official attribution, as "deeply irresponsible." UnitedHealth shares were falling nearly 14%.
vTv Therapeutics (VTVT) shares popped 3%. The company said Thursday that screening has been reinitiated in its phase 3 trial of cadisegliatin as an adjunctive treatment of type 1 diabetes following a protocol amendment.
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