01:43 PM EDT, 04/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks advanced Friday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 0.9% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) climbing 1.1%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1.2%.

In corporate news, Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) agreed to buy Shockwave Medical ( SWAV ) in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $13.1 billion as the pharmaceutical giant seeks to strengthen its MedTech cardiovascular portfolio. Shockwave shares gained 2.1%, and Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) was little changed.

Ocugen ( OCGN ) shares surged 26% after the company said the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the phase 1/2 trial of OCU410 to treat eye disease geographic atrophy approved proceeding with a medium dose in the dose-escalation stage of the study.

Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) shares jumped 5.2% after follow-on trial data showed the longer-term efficacy and safety of its aficamten drug candidate for treating patients with unusually thick heart muscle.