Top Health Care Stocks

JNJ -0.55%

PFE +0.26%

ABT -0.18%

MRK -0.57%

AMGN -2.81%

Health care stocks were mostly lower, with the NYSE Health Care Sector Index retreating about 0.7% and shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 down about 0.6% as a group.

In company news, Advaxis Inc. ( ADXS ) was higher Monday after federal regulators cleared the biotech company to begin Phase I/II testing early next year of its ADXS-HPV anti-cancer therapy either alone or in combination with AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) MEDI4736 drug candidate.

ADXS shares were up 15% at $4.35 apiece, just 4 cents off their session high. The stock has traded within a 52-week range of $2.46 to $5.99 a share, declining almost 12% over the past year prior to Monday's advance.

Approval of ADXS' Investigational New Drug application by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows the company to proceed with a trial to evaluate ADXS-HPV as a prospective treatment for advanced, recurrent or refractory human papillomavirus-associated cervical cancer and HPV-associated head and neck cancer.

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Health Care Sector Update for 12/15/2014: ADXS, AZN, OPK, SHS, PFE