I continue to believe that the healthcare sector is a great place to invest with a long term view.
This is due to favourable industry tailwinds which look set to support demand for healthcare services for a long time to come.
While I think CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) would be a strong buy right now for this reason, it isn't the only healthcare share to consider.
Here are two exciting ASX healthcare shares to look at:
Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)
Opthea is a developer of novel biologic therapies for the treatment of eye diseases. The key attraction to the company for me is the OPT-302 combination therapy which delivered very strong study results last year. If its upcoming Phase 3 trial proves just as successful, then the future could be very bright for the company.
The current standard of care treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration had sales of over US$3.7 billion in 2018. This gives it a sizeable market opportunity. In addition to this, the company is targeting diabetic macular edema (DME), which had sales of over US$6.2 billion in 2018. Though, it is worth noting that I'm not as confident that its DME trials will be as successful following some mixed phase 2a results. Another positive is that Opthea has a very strong balance sheet and appears well-funded to see OPT-302 through its trials.
PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)
Another ASX healthcare share to look at is PolyNovo. It is a growing medical device company which is marketing the increasingly popular NovoSorb technology. NovoSorb is a family of proprietary medical grade polymers that can be utilised for the manufacture of novel medical devices. These biocompatible polymers are designed to support different functions of the body and then biodegrade into by-products that can be easily absorbed and excreted.
Its NovoSorb Biodegradable Temporising Matrix (BTM) product is the one that I'm most excited about. It is a wound dressing which is designed to treat full-thickness wounds and burns. Management estimates that it currently has a sizeable $1.5 billion addressable market. However, it is looking to expand its use into other markets and sees an opportunity to take the product into the hernia and breast treatment markets. These would add a further $6 billion to its addressable market if successful.
