Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Edge Higher Premarket Friday

09:19 AM EDT, 09/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks were edging higher premarket Friday, with the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) up 0.1% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) advancing by 0.5%. STAAR Surgical (STAA) shares were up more than 2% after the company said its board approved a share repurchase program allowing the company to buy back up to $50 million of its outstanding common stock. Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) stock was up more than 3% after the company said in a filing that a jury awarded it $90 million in damages against Eli Lilly (LLY), finding that Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under an agreement related to the development and commercialization of rezpegaldesleukin. Fate Therapeutics (FATE) has been awarded a $15 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support its clinical development of a phase 2 trial for FT819, a potential treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus with lupus nephritis, the company said. Fate Therapeutics shares were up nearly 2% premarket.