Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Edge Up in Afternoon Trading

Hoth Therapeutics is working to commercialize a potential obesity therapy co-developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Emory University using the Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Financial details of the license agreement between the company and the patent holders were not disclosed.

Hoth shares recently were falling 3.2%, recovering from a nearly 12% slide earlier Thursday. Trading volume was well above typical levels, with over 8 million shares exchanged through midday on Thursday compared with a daily average of around 978,000 shares per day.

Digital Ally has received a non-compliance notice after its share price fell below the $1 minimum needed to keep its stock listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, the company said Thursday in a regulatory filing. Under Nasdaq rules, the company has until June 18 to lift the closing bid price for its shares to at least $1 or risk having its shares delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market exchange.

Digital Ally shares were down 3.3%, roughly halving a nearly 7% decline earlier Thursday. Trading volume was relatively light with over 56,000 shares changing hands compared with a daily average of about 197,000 shares.

Nippon Steel on Thursday said it was extending the closing date for its proposed $15 billion takeover of US Steel to the first quarter of 2025 as the White House reviews the transaction. President Joe Biden has 15 days to decide whether to approve the deal after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US said it was unable to reach a recommendation and referred the matter to him.

US Steel shares recently were down 2% after earlier sinking as much as 2.6%. Volume was moderate, with more than 1.5 million shares exchanged compared with a daily average of around 4.7 million shares.

Hoth Therapeutics said Thursday that it entered into an exclusive patent license agreement with the US Department of Veterans Affairs to develop obesity treatment.

The deal also gives Hoth the rights to a patent co-developed by the department and Emory University, the company said.

Financial details weren't provided.

The technology uses the Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor to treat obesity and related health conditions. The agreement includes a detailed development plan to guide the technology from research to commercialization, with the goal of making it widely accessible, the company said.

Shares of Hoth fell 6.3% in recent trading.

By Denny Jacob

TScan Therapeutics shares jumped 23% in premarket trading after a $30 million registered direct offering.

Shares were trading around $3.58. The stock is down about 50% on the year.

The Waltham, Mass.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company said it entered into a securities purchase agreement with Lynx1 Capital Management and investment fund advised by Lynx1 for the sale of about $30 million of pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 7.5 million shares of its voting common stock at a price of $4 per pre-funded warrant.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

Health care stocks were steady premarket Thursday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund and iShares Biotechnology ETF were inactive recently.

TScan Therapeutics shares rose past 19% after the company said it signed a securities purchase agreement with Lynx1 Capital Management and an investment fund advised by Lynx1 for the sale of about $30 million of pre-funded warrants.

OS Therapies said Tuesday that it signed securities purchase agreements with investors to sell 1.5 million units at $4 each for gross proceeds of $6 million. OS Therapies shares were up over 3% premarket.

MultiPlan M shares fell by 7%, offsetting a portion of Tuesday's nearly 95% increase that followed the company's announcement of a refinancing to extend its debt maturities.

Health care stocks declined premarket Thursday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was down 0.3% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was about 1% lower recently.

TScan Therapeutics shares rose past 20% premarket after the company said it signed a securities purchase agreement with Lynx1 Capital Management and an investment fund advised by Lynx1 for the sale of about $30 million of pre-funded warrants.