Lilly’s vaccine deals lift TMED ETF to top weekly gain

The T. Rowe Price Health Care ETF (TMED) posted a 3.37% return last week, the largest weekly gain among T. Rowe Price funds. The advance was driven primarily by Eli Lilly and Co., which represents about 16.22% of TMED’s portfolio.

Lilly announced on Tuesday it will acquire three vaccine developers for up to $3.83 billion. The largest agreement may reach $1.55 billion for Vaccine Company, Inc., which is developing a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus, a pathogen studies have linked to multiple sclerosis and several cancers. Lilly agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion for Curevo Inc.; Curevo’s lead shingles vaccine candidate reduced side effects by more than half in Phase 2 trials versus the current standard of care. The third deal could total up to $780 million for LimmaTech Biologics AG, which is developing a vaccine targeting Staphylococcus aureus and has candidates aimed at pathogens tied to infertility.

In a company release, Daniel M. Skovronsky, chief scientific and product officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories, wrote, “These acquisitions reflect a deliberate strategy to prevent disease at its source rather than treat its consequences.”

TMED is an actively managed health-care ETF that allows managers to weight holdings based on their research convictions rather than follow a sector index. That structure permits larger positions in individual companies; Lilly’s roughly 16.22% weighting gives the stock an outsized effect on the fund’s weekly returns.

The fund, which launched in June 2025, has an expense ratio of 0.44% and a year-to-date return of 4.29%. It held about $21.6 million in assets and recorded $1.52 million in net inflows last month.

Other top holdings include UnitedHealth Group at about 8.06%, Gilead Sciences at roughly 4.43%, Thermo Fisher Scientific near 3.94%, and Abbott Laboratories around 3.52%.

Analysts and investors are expected to track how the three vaccine developers are integrated and whether clinical and regulatory milestones support the candidates. Given Lilly’s large weighting in TMED, developments at the company are likely to remain a major factor in the fund’s short-term performance.