09:19 AM EDT, 05/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were steady-to-lower pre-bell Monday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) was flat and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) recently fell by 0.8%.

Novavax ( NVAX ) shares rose past 23% after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Biologics License Application for its COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid.

Intellia Therapeutics ( NTLA ) shares advanced by over 4% after the company said it received "positive" two-year follow-up data from an ongoing phase 1 trial of its investigational drug nexiguran ziclumeran for the potential treatment of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy, a genetic disease associated with the liver.

Zai Lab ( ZLAB ) shares were up more than 2% after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration has granted fast-track designation to ZL-1310, the company's potential antibody-drug conjugate for the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.