While the S&P/ASX200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has generally underperformed in 2019, one $283 million company's share price has been surging higher.
The AFT Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: AFP) share price is up 55% since April 23 and closed out Friday more than 1% higher as it set a new 52-week high in its ongoing march higher.
Why has the AFT Pharmaceuticals price surged recently?
The AFT Pharmaceuticals share price explosion started not long after the company made an April 12 announcement in which it announced the completion of 3 new deals.
In the announcement, AFT announced it had extended its strong partnership with a Mexican company, Expanscience Mexico, to out-license its patented combination painkiller, Maxigesic IV, to Mexico.
The company also announced it has secured new licensee partners in two new countries, being Switzerland and Cyprus, with Maxigesic tablets licensed to Medochemie in Cyprus and a local Swiss company.
The good times continued to roll for AFT shareholders once the company announced its full-year 2019 (FY 2019) results on 22 May this year.
AFT reported that Maxigesic was registered in 42 countries with 20 countries having launched the product.
Operating revenue for the group came in at $85.1 million for the year, while operating profit increased $16.2 million to $6.1 million as the company returned to profit.
The Aussie pharmaceutical group reported strong FY 2019 numbers across all of its Australia, New Zealand, Rest of World and Southeast Asia segments and investors responded by buying up stock and sending the share price climbing higher.
Where to next for the AFT share price?
Earlier on Friday morning, AFT announced that it had reached a licensing agreement for its Pascomer product in North America.
Pascomer is a topical treatment for Facial Angiofibromas In Tuberous Sclerosis, a disease which affects over 30,000 patients in the US alone – an opportunity which the company believes is worth US$300 million or more in the USA if the clinical studies are successful.
The company expects results to be due in 2020, with AFT to take 100% control of the original partnership setup for development of Pascomer.
The AFT share price is currently trading at a 52-week high of $2.95 per share and despite its share price growth flattening off slightly, the thinly-traded stock makes it difficult to find a chance to buy at a good price.
In the meantime, the Australian Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd (ASX: API) share price is trading broadly flat after an up-and-down start to the year and could be a good option for those seeking pharmaceuticals exposure.
