The latest Market Talks covering the Health Care sector. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

0654 ET - Sandoz's tie-up with China's Henlius looks like a positive step for the Swiss pharmaceutical company, RBC Capital Markets' Harry Sephton writes in a note to investors. Under the partnership, the two companies will collaborate on the development and commercialization of up to ten biosimilar medicines, with payments for the commercialization reaching up to $322 million. The agreement "demonstrates Sandoz's leading position as a commercialization partner in biosimilars," Sephton says. Sandoz shares gain 3.15% to 75.3 Swiss francs. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com' @joshualeokirby)

0640 ET - AstraZeneca needs some positive pipeline news after a lung cancer drug Phase three trial was ended, BofA Securities' analysts write. The failure of volrustomig may increase investor caution about the oncology pipeline, they add. The genie is out of the bottle on AstraZeneca's concern around its patent cliff and pipeline, after reports of merger talks with Bristol Myers Squibb, the analysts say. However, data delivery can challenge this, BofA adds. Investors are cautious about higher-risk advanced cancer trials Serena-4 and Avanzar, but BofA says it sees a positive risk-reward balance. If the studies fail, the U.S. bank says it sees downside for the pharmaceutical company. Shares are up 1.0% in London. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0620 ET - AstraZeneca's discontinuation of one lung-cancer drug trial is disappointing, but positive data for other drugs could see an upgrade to consensus sales guidance, J.P. Morgan analysts say. The volrustomig trial, which has been scrapped after a review, was already seen as high risk. It represented around 20% of the sales target AstraZeneca has for the drug, which was set at more than $5 billion. However, the strength of results from Tagrisso and Orpathys trials--also possible lung-cancer treatments--are encouraging, according to the U.S. bank. Based on the results, a sales peak of at least $500 million for Orpathys appears more likely, as is $500 million more in sales for Tagrisso than expected, JPM says. Results of the Enhertu trial also suggest up to $500 million in peak sales for this drug. Shares are up 0.8%. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

2222 ET - Riverstone Holdings is likely to benefit from artificial-intelligence driven demand, UOB Kay Hian analysts say in a report. They point to management commentary highlighting demand from data center and memory-storage applications, reinforcing the company's cleanroom segment as a key earnings driver. The company is also renewing ageing production lines and shifting away from low-margin generic output toward higher-value products. The brokerage lifts its earnings estimates for Riverstone by 20% for 2026, 15% for 2027, and 10% for 2028. It raises the stock's target price to 1.21 Singapore dollars from 1.10 Singapore dollars, with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 1.2% lower at 0.83 Singapore dollar.