08:55 AM EDT, 09/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were edging higher premarket Thursday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was up 0.3% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) recently advanced by 0.5%.

Evotec (EVO) shares were up over 5% after the company and Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said they are partnering to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies for possible commercialization.