09:11 AM EST, 01/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were higher in Monday's premarket hours, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) each advancing by 0.3% recently.

Regional Health Properties ( RHE/PA ) and SunLink Health Systems ( SSY ) said they have agreed to merge in an all-stock deal. Regional Health shares soared more than 214% and SunLink Health ( SSY ) shares were over 24% higher in recent premarket activity.

SciSparc ( SPRC ) announced the publication of a European patent application that its collaboration partner Clearmind Medicine ( CMND ) submitted with the European Patent Office for a binge behavior psychedelic combination treatment. Shares of SciSparc ( SPRC ) surged past 68% and Clearmind Medicine ( CMND ) shares rose by over 6% pre-bell.

CytoMed Therapeutics ( GDTC ) shares were up over 20% after the company said it has signed a five-year business and research collaboration deal with SunAct Cancer Institute to explore the efficacy, potency, safety, and tolerability of CytoMed's proprietary allogeneic gamma delta T cells to treat different cancers.