02:09 PM EDT, 09/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were declining Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index down 0.4% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) easing 0.1%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 1%.

In corporate news, Cardinal Health ( CAH ) agreed to buy Integrated Oncology Network for $1.12 billion in cash, as part of its efforts to strengthen its specialty and oncology portfolio. Cardinal shares were rising 0.7%.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) shares dropped 5.2% after the company said a phase 2a trial of monlunabant in obesity showed that all doses achieved a "statistically significant" weight loss, but reports of mild to moderate neuropsychiatric side effects were "more frequent and dose-dependent" with the investigational drug compared with placebo.

The US Federal Trade Commission said it has sued the three biggest prescription drug benefit managers, or PBMs, for allegedly inflating the list prices of insulin drugs artificially. The complaint alleges that CVS Health's ( CVS ) Caremark, Cigna's ( CI ) Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) OptumRx and their respective group purchasing organizations have rigged pharmaceutical supply chain competition in their favor, which has forced patients to pay more for their medications. CVS shares were falling 1.4%, Cigna ( CI ) was 0.2% lower, and UnitedHealth ( UNH ) was fractionally down.