03:44 PM EDT, 04/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 1.6% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) up 1.8%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.6%.

In corporate news, Novavax ( NVAX ) shares rose 4.8% after it said Tuesday in a regulatory filing that shareholder Shah Capital plans to vote against the re-election of board nominees and the company's executive compensation package at its upcoming annual meeting.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit seeking to narrow and clarify the definition of an eligible patient under the federal 340B drug discount program. Its shares rose 2.5%.

Bausch + Lomb ( BLCO ) shares gained 3.1% after it said Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration cleared its dual-port vitrectomy cutter and a fluidics software update for its vision enhancement system, used for retinal surgery.

GSK (GSK) shares gained 2.7% after it said China's National Medical Products Administration approved its biologic medication Exdensur as a supplemental therapy for adults suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.