Health Check: Aroa's ‘hero' product propels the wound management house back into black

News.com.au

29-05-2025

Aroa shares surge 13% after the company's full-year results exceeded guidance
New wound management IPO does the rounds for $35 million
Inoviq shares vault up to 58% on early cancer light therapy results
Kiwi-based wounds management house Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) has exceeded its recent revenue and earnings guidance, after a robust second half on the back of its 'hero' Myriad product range.
Aroa's revenue came in at NZ$84.7 million for the year to March 2025, 23% higher and slightly above the NZ$81-84 million range the company guided to in late April.
Normalised earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) were NZ$4.2 million, compared with the previous NZ$3.1 million loss.
Once again, the number was a tad above the guided range of NZ$2-4 million.
Aroa has also guided to current-year revenue of NZ$92-100 million, 10-20% higher year on year, with ebitda of NZ$5-8 million.
CEO Brian Ward stresses the company's 'star product' Myriad has been delivering the goods, with sales up 35%.
Myriad is used for complex wounds including trauma and lower limb salvage.
Sold via Aroa's partner TELA Bio, sales of its hernia and breast reconstruction tool Ovitex rose 22%
Sales of the Endoform wound dressing were flat, as expected.
Expanding indications
Ward said the company would focus on expanding indications for its products, which are biological materials sourced from ovine intestines.
This push is being supported by several clinical studies, such as a lower limb salvage study trial that resulted in quick healing with no complications.
'That's quite different to what we have seen with other technologies,' he says.
However, Aroa has 'paused' the rollout of its Symphony product, for hard-to-heal wounds such as diabetic ulcers.
This is because the company has won inpatient reimbursement in the US, but not coverage for physicians.
The company plans a supportive trial to win full reimbursement.
'The rules are changing and only products with randomised, controlled trials will be reimbursed,' Ward says.
'This will take many rivals out of the market.'
Aroa has product approvals across 50 countries, but almost all its revenue derives from the US.
CFO James Agnew said the US tariff impact on the company was likely to be around NZ$1.5 million, or around 1% of revenue.
Because of transfer pricing arrangements between TELA Bio and Aroa's own US entity, that's far less than the blanket 10% rate Uncle Sam levies on NZ goods.
New wound play does the IPO rounds
Still on wound management, Tetraherix is defying the barren IPO biotech landscape with a $35 million raising to advance its novel tools for applications including tissue healing, bone regeneration and surgical spacing.
Invented by chemical engineer and University of Sydney researcher Dr Ali Fathi, the platform-based tech is the world's first 'biostealth fluid matrix'.
Supplied in ready-to-use syringes, the polymer is injected into the relevant anatomy and sets to a 'chewing-gum' consistency that can be easily moulded to suit the application.
Eventually, the material breaks down into water and carbon dioxide.
Pending expected US Food and Drug Approval, the company hopes to bring its first products to market in the first half of 2026.
These are for dental applications and bone regeneration and orthopaedic uses.
The company also has tools in the pipeline for scar prevention during surgery and a prostate surgery 'spacer' to protect surrounding tissue (such as the rectum) during radiation therapy.
Doing the rounds
Joint lead managers Morgans and Barrenjoey are undertaking the institution round which closes next Tuesday, with a limited retail offering open until June 17.
The company is expected to list in late June.
The shares are offered at $2.88 a pop, amounting to a $155 million market cap and a $115 million enterprise value (allowing for cash on hand).
The founder of 'cloud' accounting software giant Xero, Rod Drury is a notable investor.
Invion lights up on skin cancer trial
The developer of photodynamic therapies (PTDs) for cancers, Invion (ASX:IVX) has passed the initial safety test for its phase I/II non-melanoma skin cancer trial, being carried out in Queensland (of course).
A safety review committee found no 'adverse events' among the first treated patients, who were administered Invion's candidate INV-043 as an ointment.
What's more, 'early indications show an observable reduction in the lesion size after a single treatment cycle'.
Clinician feedback shows patients did not experience any pain during the treatment, 'which compares favourably to currently approved PDT treatments.'
By combining oxygen and light, PTDs are known to kill malignant cells and shut down tumors.
Known about for more than a century, the science is supported by more than 500 trials.
That said, it's been an overlooked area of oncology and Invion is the only listed exemplar.
Invion now is proceeding to the second stage of the adaptive trial, which involves dose optimalisation.
Meanwhile, the safety data will influence the company's upcoming phase I/II trial for ano-genital cancer, in alliance with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Known for wild movements, Invion shares soared up to 58% this morning.
Inoviq share freeze highlights disclosure dilemmas
A quirky aspect of clinical results is they are not validated until they are presented in a prestigious peer-reviewed publication, or a conference of luminaries.
Typically, a company will post top-line results earlier and this can lead to investor confusion about what's new and what's merely additional info for the boffins.
On Monday, the ASX suspended share trading in cancer drug developer Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) and queried why the company's shares soared 25%, from 37 cents on Wednesday May 21, to last Friday's high of 46.5 cents.
Inoviq yesterday pointed to an abstract poster presentation for an upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference published online.
This outlined 'the background, methods, results and conclusions underpinning the high-level results' of an independent patient validation study of the company's ovarian cancer test.
The results of the blood test were 'outstanding', with more than 94% accuracy.
Hold the front page!
Okay, let it go: the guts of the results were outlined on December 3 last year – and referred to in subsequent ASX disclosures.
Inoviq says: 'some shareholders may have missed or misunderstood the significance of and may believe the abstract contains new or better information, which is materially price sensitive.'
The company believes that was not the case and did not 'announce' the abstract to the ASX.
Fair enough!
After all, there's nothing more frustrating than companies hyping up presentations that contain no genuine news.
In old tabloid terms it's known as a Bamix job: a beat up.
But like all good tabloid yarns, there's a twist:
Inoviq will present further trial information that is price sensitive, to the ASCO powwow in Chicago on Sunday.
This prezzo is under embargo until that day and Inoviq plans to announce the 'tightly held' information first thing on Monday.
In the meantime, it's best the shares remain untradeable.