Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Gain Thursday Afternoon

01:54 PM EDT, 10/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index rising 2.3% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 2.4%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed up 2.5%. In corporate news, Adlai Nortye (ANL) shares jumped nearly 8% after it said Thursday it has signed clinical trial collaboration and supply agreements with Eli Lilly (LLY) and Merck KGaA to evaluate its investigational cancer drug AN4035 plus cetuximab. Verastem's (VSTM) G12D drug showed promising efficacy in pancreatic cancer, while its shares remain undervalued, RBC said in a note. RBC raised its price target to $19 from $14, with an outperform rating. Its shares surged over 25%. Astrazeneca (AZN) shares added over 3% after the company said it has signed a drug discovery and licensing deal with Insitro to develop treatments for fatty liver disease and heart muscle disorders. Labcorp (LH) has agreed to buy some assets of OPKO Health (OPK) subsidiary BioReference Health for $722 million, the companies said. OPKO Health shares climbed about 10%, and Labcorp rose 1.8%.