Morgans spotlights nine healthcare stocks with upcoming catalysts after 'upbeat' Bioshares Biotech Summit

News.com.au

8 hours ago

Morgans' Scott Power describes mood at Bioshares Biotech Summit as "markedly more upbeat than prior years" with signs of a rotation back to ASX healthcare sector
Power highlights nine ASX healthcare companies from summit with clear near-term catalysts over next three to six months
Results from Argenica's phase II trial of lead product ARG-007 in acute ischaemic stroke patients expected in early September
In a further positive sign the ASX healthcare sector may be recovering, Morgans' senior healthcare analyst Scott Power has returned from the 19th annual Bioshares Biotech Summit, describing the mood of presenting companies as "markedly more upbeat than prior years".
The summit, which featured presentations from more than 30 biotech companies, followed a strong July for the healthcare sector, which rose 9.05% to be best performer of the 11 ASX sectors.
While healthcare remains the worst-performing sector YTD, up just 1.81%, the solid July results and positive momentum at this year's Bioshares conference signals a positive turnaround.
Attended by analysts along with institutional and high net worth investors, Stockhead's Tim Boreham refers to the summit as the "Druggies & Dealers' conference – a playful nod to the well-known annual Diggers & Dealers mining forum, which this year fell in the same week.
"The conference was centred on the evolution and strategic positioning of Australian biotech companies across the drug development lifecycle, with a strong emphasis on innovation and commercialisation," Power said.
"We generally got the sense there is a lot more happening in the background for many of these companies than first glance."
Power has highlighted nine ASX healthcare companies presenting at the summit with clear near-term catalysts over the next three to six months.
Morgans nine ASX healthcare stocks with upcoming catalysts
Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU)
Market cap: $2.2 billion
Neuren develops drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders and became the darling of the ASX biotech sector in 2023 when trofinetide, marketed as DAYBUE, received US Food and Drug Administration approval as the first and only approved treatment for Rett syndrome – a rare neurological disorder mostly affecting girls and emerging in infancy.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Neuren's partner, markets DAYBUE in North America with the Aussie biotech eligible to receive double-digit royalties payments.
Power said the key upcoming catalyst for Neuren would be an expectation of continued improvement in DAYBUE net sales in Q3 CY25. The company's latest quarterly sales were US$96.1 million, up 14% on pcp.
CogState (ASX:CGS)
Market cap: $295.9 million
Cogstate is a neuroscience technology company focused on optimising neurological health assessments to advance the development of new medicines and deliver clinical insights into brain function.
Its Cognigram digital cognitive assessment system is used by physicians to monitor key aspects of neurological performance, including processing speed, attention, visual learning, working memory and executive function.
CogState has provided FY25 guidance of revenue between US$52 to US$54 million, up 20% to 24% and profit before tax between US$12 to US$14 million.
"CGS will report its FY25 result on August 22 with the existing share buyback expected to be extended," Power said.
Market cap: $95m
The key upcoming catalyst for Argenica is results forecast for early September of a phase II trial of its lead product ARG-007 in acute ischaemic stroke patients.
ARG-007 is a synthetic peptide designed to protect brain cells from dying in the critical minutes and hours after acute neurological events such as stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and hypoxic brain damage.
In April, Argenica completed dosing of 92 patients in the double-blinded, randomised, placebo controlled phase II trial undertaken at eight emergency departments around Australia.
Data-read out from the trial is due in September with safety the main endpoint, determining if the drug asset can advance further in clinical development.
Blinklab (ASX:BB1)
Market cap:$55m
Blinklab is a company founded by neuroscientists at Princeton University and has developed a smartphone based diagnostic platform for autism, ADHD, schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
"The key short term catalyst is the release of results for BB1's pilot study for autism involving around 190 children," Power said,
"The study undertaken at two sites is on track to finish recruitment in August with data locking and unblinding to follow and results expected to be released in September.
"A main phase trial is expected to follow recruiting up to 900 children across eight additional sites."
Clever Culture Systems (ASX:CC5)
Market capitalisation $62.4 million
Adelaide-based Clever Culture Systems has developed the only US FDA-cleared AI technology for automated culture plate reading. Its APAS (automated plate assessment system) Independence instruments automatically analyse culture plates to detect microbial contamination, classifying growth as significant or non-significant.
In sterile drug manufacturing, culture plates are used inside cleanrooms to monitor for contamination, with results critical to releasing safe and effective drugs. Clever Culture's APAS Independence reduces the time consuming manual analysing of the culture plates by microbiologists.
"CC5 has signed up three large pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novo Nordisk plus two large lab companies and is in negotiations with other tier one groups," Power said.
"Announcements around additional customers or expansion with existing customers is a key short-term catalyst."
Tetratherix (ASX:TTX)
Market cap: $215 million
Wound management house Tetratherix made its ASX debut on June 30, breaking an IPO drought for the sector. Barrenjoey Markets and Morgans Financial were joint lead managers and underwriters to the Tetratherix IPO.
Tetratherix has developed a proprietary polymer platform enabling the targeted delivery of cells, drugs and biologics, to treat a range of conditions across tissue spacing, bone regenerative and tissue healing.
The company will post its maiden FY25 result in late August.
"The near-term catalysts we expect to be called out include progress on the bone regeneration franchise which is targeting FDA clearance in H2 CY26 and an update on the recruitment in the trial for Cohort 2 using TetraDerm (tissue healing) involving surgical incisions in the face and neck," Power said.
Micro-X (ASX:MX1)
Market cap: $52 million
Micro-X has proprietary cold cathode, carbon nanotube (CNT) emitter technology which is focused on medical imaging and security applications.
The company recently announced a significant commercial milestone, a three-year supply agreement with a major US healthcare provider for its Rover Plus mobile radiology system.
The deal followed a successful evaluation and competitive tender by the healthcare provider, which operates more than 700 facilities nationwide.
It has added Rover Plus to its approved procurement list, allowing member hospitals to purchase the system without further evaluation or tendering.
"We expect additional supply agreements will be executed over the near-term," Power said.
Dimerix (ASX:DXB)
Market cap: $300m
Dimerix's lead drug candidate DMX-200 is in a phase III trial for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare kidney disease. The ACTION3 phase III trial continues to recruit across clinical sites globally, with more than 190 sites activated.
Full targeted recruitment of 286 patients for the ACTION3 trial is expected to be completed by the end of CY25. Dimerix is also developing DMX-700 for respiratory disease.
"Following a positive interim analysis (Part 1) another interim analysis (Part 2) is expected to be released late CY25 or early CY26," Power said.
Artrya (ASX:AYA)
Market cap: $148m
Artrya is developing AI-powered solutions to improve the detection and management of coronary artery disease. Its proprietary software called Salix analyses coronary CT scans to identify key biomarkers of heart disease, supporting clinicians in diagnosing patients more accurately and efficiently.
Artrya has three key modules in its Salix platform. The FDA-cleared and launched Coronary Anatomy module is already in market. Power said upcoming catalysts for the company included FDA clearances of its Coronary Plaque module, expected in Q3 CY25, and its Coronary Flow module, anticipated in Q1 CY26.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.