Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Mixed Premarket Monday

09:14 AM EDT, 10/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks were mixed premarket Monday, with the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) down 0.6% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) advancing by 0.5%. Disc Medicine (IRON) shares were up more than 34% after the company said its experimental therapy bitopertin met all primary and secondary endpoints in the phase 3 trial in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria, including X-linked protoporphyria, a genetic metabolic disorder. Silence Therapeutics (SLN) stock rose past 125% after the company said it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany through an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of $1.1 billion and an equity value of about $1.3 billion. EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (EYPT) shares were down more than 81% after the company said it plans to cut 53% of its workforce and end its late-stage trials of Duravyu for wet age-related macular degeneration early after the drug failed to meet the primary endpoint.