Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Edge Higher in Afternoon Trading

01:57 PM EDT, 09/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks edged higher Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) each up 0.1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was slightly lower. In corporate news, AstraZeneca (AZN) shares added 0.9% after the company said Friday the US Food and Drug Administration granted priority review to its application for an Imfinzi combination therapy to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that a jury awarded it $90 million in damages against Eli Lilly (LLY), finding that Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under an agreement related to the development and commercialization of rezpegaldesleukin. Nektar shares were shedding 1.1%, and Lilly was down 0.8%. Ocugen (OCGN) shares added 3.5% after the company said Friday that OCU400 received provisional approval and priority designation from the Longevity and Regenerative Therapies Board in the Bahamas.