Healthcare Shares Slip, Lagging the Broader Market -- Health Care Roundup

Healthcare shares slipped, lagging the broader market as investors shifted into more economically sensitive stocks.

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said their experimental Covid-19 pill helped prevent high-risk people early in the course of the disease in a pivotal study from becoming seriously ill and dying, a big step toward providing the pandemic's first easy-to-use, at-home treatment. Merck shares rose nearly 10% on the news in their biggest one-day gain since August 2016.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University showed 74% efficacy at preventing symptomatic illness in a large, late-stage trial conducted in the U.S., Chile and Peru, according to data published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Write to Amy Pessetto at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-01-21 1705ET