09:12 AM EDT, 07/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were mixed premarket Friday with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) down 0.2% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) up almost 1% recently.

Immutep ( IMMP ) rose past 17% after saying it achieved "positive" results from cohort B of the TACTI-003 phase 2b trial evaluating the company's eftilagimod alfa in combination with Merck's ( MRK ) Keytruda as a potential first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in patients with negative PD-L1 expression.

Instil Bio ( TIL ) was almost 26% higher after saying its Complex Therapeutics unit signed AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals as a tenant at its facility in Tarzana, California.

Alpha Teknova ( TKNO ) was up over 9% amid a deal for the sale and issuance of about 12.4 million common shares at $1.24 per share through a private placement for expected gross proceeds of about $15.4 million.