01:50 PM EST, 02/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks rose Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 0.8% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) climbing 1%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.5% higher.

In corporate news, Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said Monday its weight-loss treatment CagriSema failed to match Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) tirzepatide in weight reduction in a late-stage trial. Lilly shares gained 4.2%, and Novo fell past 15%.

Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) on Monday agreed to buy cancer therapy developer Arcellx ( ACLX ) in a deal worth $7.8 billion to strengthen its chimeric antigen receptor T-cell offerings. Arcellx ( ACLX ) shares surged nearly 78%, and Gilead was down 1%.

Merck ( MRK ) said Monday it is splitting its human health business into separate oncology and specialty pharma and infectious diseases units. Merck ( MRK ) shares added 1%.