09:16 AM EST, 01/28/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were edging higher pre-bell Tuesday, with the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) and The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) up 0.1%.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals ( APLS ) shares were down more than 2% even after the company said Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Syfovre for the every-other-month treatment of geographic atrophy in adults with age-related macular degeneration resulting in vision loss.

Akero Therapeutics ( AKRO ) stock was nearly 5% higher after the company said it has started an underwritten public offering of $300 million of shares, with J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies as book-running managers.

AstraZeneca ( AZN ) shares were marginally higher after the company and Daiichi Sankyo said their drug Enhertu has been approved in the US for the treatment of adult patients with certain types of inoperable breast cancer that has progressed on one or more endocrine therapies.