01:59 PM EDT, 08/27/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks rose Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 0.2% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) up 0.1%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was little changed.

In corporate news, the scope of the US Department of Justice's investigation into UnitedHealth ( UNH ) goes beyond previously disclosed allegations of Medicare fraud with the DOJ also looking into the insurer's prescription management services and how it reimburses its doctors, Bloomberg reported. UnitedHealth ( UNH ) shares rose 1.2%.

Pfizer ( PFE ) and BioNTech (BNTX) said the US Food and Drug Administration approved a supplemental license application for their LP.8.1-adapted monovalent COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults ages 65 and older and people ages 5 through 64 with at least one underlying condition that leaves them at high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. Pfizer ( PFE ) shares rose 0.4%, and BioNTech fell 2.3%.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said that its drug Verzenio, when combined with endocrine therapy in a late-stage study, showed a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in patients with a certain type of breast cancer, compared to endocrine therapy alone. Eli Lilly ( LLY ) shares added 0.1%.

Azitra ( AZTR ) shares surged 29% after the company dosed the first patient in a phase 1/2 trial assessing its ATR04-484 biotherapeutic candidate intended to treat skin rashes associated with epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors.