01:11 PM EDT, 10/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks rose Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index up 0.9% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) adding 1%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.6%.

In corporate news, Merck ( MRK ) said Monday it has started construction of a $3 billion, 400,000-square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at its Elkton, Virginia, site. Separately, Merck ( MRK ) said Monday that new long-term data from a phase 3 trial of its cancer drug Keytruda showed sustained survival benefits in patients with earlier or advanced stages of non-small cell lung cancer. Its shares were up 2.5%.