Novavax Up 12.1% And Relmada Up 10.7% As Biotech ETF Gains 2.8% Friday, Beating The S&P 500

Six of 112 major biotech stocks rose sharply in Friday's session, led by Novavax, up 12.1%, and Relmada Therapeutics, up 10.7%, according to market data as of 12:00 p.m. ET. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, XBI, gained 2.8% in the same session, against 0.5% for SPY, the S&P 500 proxy.

The six leaders

The six biggest movers averaged a gain of about 9% in Friday trading, as of 12:00 p.m. ET.

Novavax rose 12.1% and Relmada Therapeutics 10.7%. Iovance Biotherapeutics gained 8.7% and Moderna 8.5%. Arcutis Biotherapeutics added 7.9% and Vaxcyte climbed 7.4%.

Fifteen other names in the reading also rose, from Prothena's 6.7% down to ALX Oncology Holdings' 3.4%. Those moves were smaller.

How the sector compared with the market

XBI's 2.8% gain outpaced SPY's 0.5% by a wide margin in Friday trading.

The move was narrow within the group: the rest of the 112 names did not move sharply higher. No single catalyst has been identified for the rally in the material reviewed.

The reading leaves a simple split: six names led, fifteen followed more modestly, and the remaining names in the group sat out Friday's rally.