01:52 PM EDT, 03/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks fell Friday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index falling 0.8% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV down 0.5%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.1%.

In corporate news, Geron ( GERN ) shares surged 85% after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted in favor of the benefit-to-risk profile of imetelstat, a treatment of transfusion-dependent anemia in some people with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.

Sellas Life Sciences ( SLS ) said Friday it has signed agreements for about 13 million shares in a direct offering and warrants in a simultaneous private placement at a combined purchase price of $1.535 per share and warrant. Its shares plunged 29%.

Cybin ( CYBN ) rose 2.6% after it said Friday it has initiated a phase 2 trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CYB004 for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.