Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Gain Late Afternoon

03:56 PM EDT, 10/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) each adding 2.5%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.8%. In sector news, the US Food and Drug Administration will review its approach to drug development and approvals for rare diseases under a new Rare Disease Framework Initiative, Bloomberg reported. The initiative, being announced Wednesday, aims to develop a system that increases patient input and provides companies with more regulatory clarity, the report said. In corporate news, Liquidia (LQDA) shares surged 27%. The company said late Tuesday it ended all six pending lawsuits with United Therapeutics (UTHR) in a deal that keeps its Yutrepia treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension on the market. United Therapeutics shares were down 0.5%. GSK (GSK) is planning up to 1,217 job cuts in Belgium, according to a Google-translated version of a Wednesday report by local newspaper L'Echo. The company has reportedly detailed the plans to unions, while labor negotiations will follow to minimize the number of affected employees. Its shares rose 3.6%. Verastem (VSTM) shares jumped past 6% after it said early data from a trial of VS-7375, a drug targeting KRAS G12D mutations, showed a 50% confirmed response rate in second-line pancreatic cancer and 43% in later-line lung cancer. ImmunityBio's (IBRX) shares rose 0.9% after the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday the company's Anktiva was approved for adults with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.