Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Rise Thursday Afternoon

01:33 PM EDT, 09/17/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index adding 0.5% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) up 0.4%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gained 1.8%. In corporate news, Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Orbis Medicines struck an up to $1.4 billion licensing deal for the private company to develop oral drugs for cardiometabolic diseases. Novo will also make a "strategic investment" in Orbis. Separately, Novo said Thursday that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency recommended marketing authorization for Frehemgo or denecimig in the EU to treat haemophilia A, a bleeding disorder. Novo shares rose 3.5%. Nuvation Bio (NUVB) shares gained 5.7% after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its supplemental new drug application for taletrectinib to treat non-small cell lung cancer. Astrana Health (ASTH) shares fell 3.5% after short seller GlassHouse Research published a report alleging that the company's profitability depends on its management's subjective estimates.