04:00 PM EDT, 04/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were higher late Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index rising 0.3% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) adding 0.4%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) decreased 0.2%.

In corporate news, UnitedHealth ( UNH ) Chief Executive Andrew Witty will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 1 to testify about the cyberattack on the company's Change Healthcare unit, the committee said Friday in a statement. UnitedHealth ( UNH ) shares gained 1.7%.

Alvotech ( ALVO ) shares popped 2.5% after the firm signed a long-term agreement with an unidentified partner to expand access to Adalimumab-ryvk, a biosimilar to Abbvie's ( ABBV ) drug Humira, in the US. Abbvie ( ABBV ) shares were up 1%.

Cardio Diagnostics ( CDIO ) had its share-price target cut to $1.35 from $4 by Benchmark, which maintained its speculative buy rating. Its shares plunged 19.7%.

NeuroMetrix ( NURO ) shares surged 19.3% after it said Friday that, following feedback from shareholder Ephraim Fields of Echo Lake Capital, its board has authorized the appointment of Joshua Horowitz as an independent director and terminated an at-the-market equity facility with Ladenburg Thalmann.