On a losing day in Wall Street, the healthcare industry was no exemption. Stocks fell amid a surprising decline in the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.

UniQure slid after patients treated with its Huntington's disease drug in a recent study no longer showed a statistically significant slowdown in disease-induced decline after four years. At four years, the study's primary endpoint--composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (cUHDRS)--showed a 44% slowing of disease progression compared with an external control, but the data did not reach statistical significance, the company said.

Novo Nordisk has signed a licensing deal for a weight-loss treatment being developed by Hengrui Pharma that could be worth up to $2.6 billion. The Danish drugmaker will pay China-based Hengrui $300 million upfront, with the rest of the potential deal value tied to milestones. Novo will obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize HRS-1596 globally, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Hengrui is also eligible to receive royalties based on sales of the drug within the licensed territory. The move is in line with Novo's efforts to continuously advance its pipeline across obesity, diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases, said Martin Holst Lange, chief scientific officer at Novo.