09:18 AM EDT, 09/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were edging higher premarket Thursday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) was up 0.2% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) recently rose by 0.6%.

Evotec (EVO) shares were up over 4% after the company and Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said they are partnering to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies for possible commercialization.

ANI Pharmaceuticals ( ANIP ) shares were over 3% higher after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the abbreviated new drug application for its Ketoconazole shampoo, 2%, a generic version of the Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo.

Evaxion Biotech ( EVAX ) shares rose past 2% after the company said it granted Merck ( MRK ) an option to exclusively license two preclinical vaccine candidates, EVX-B2 and EVX-B3.