Goldman Sachs hosted its 4th small/mid-cap healthcare forum this week. This included 13 Australian and New Zealand healthcare companies across a diverse range of specialties. Here are the ASX healthcare shares that Goldman picked as a buy.
Goldman's ASX healthcare shares to buy
Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)
Opthea is developing a complementary medicine to be used with existing inhibitors for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME).
Goldman believes there is multi-billion dollar potential in Opthea's treatment. The broker observes that existing treatments only inhibit up to two of the factors responsible for retinal disease, with over half of patients not achieving significant vision gains and a quarter experiencing continued vision loss.
The company's lead candidate, OPT-302 is intended to complement existing treatments to produce an improved outcome for patients.
Opthea successfully completed a A$169 million initial public offering on the US NASDAQ market in September 2020, improving its cash position to A$203 million in 1H21. Goldman believes this secures the company's funding for the completion of two pivotal Phase 3 trials.
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)
Within the context of medical imaging, Goldman believes that "globally, there is rapidly growing demand for solutions that can process, transfer and store this data efficiently, particularly given that speed and accuracy is intrinsically linked to treatment outcomes and commercial incentives".
Pro Medicus shares have been chugging along and up 33% year-to-date to a near all-time record high of $47.22.
Goldman has observed that its 3Q21 transaction volumes are tracking above pre-COVID levels with a strong backlog/deferral stream to provide growth for months to come.
Goldman has modelled "an average of 5 contract wins per year, at an average minimum size of A$15m pa, reflecting recent order momentum and our expectation of heightened interest in this technology through the coming periods ".
Integral Diagnostics Ltd (ASX: IDX)
Integral Diagnostics is one of the largest diagnostic imaging companies in Australia.
Goldman observes that the company's 1H21 growth of 6.5% was softer than the 8.3% improvement from Medicare.
This was largely driven by Integral's geographical weighting in Victoria which was impacted by regional lockdowns. Looking ahead, the company has commented that volumes in the second half are growing in line with expectations.
The growth drivers highlighted by Goldman and Integral include a "steady positive mix shift towards high-acuity imaging" and "Medicare reimbursement re-indexation from July-20 at c.+1.5% pa".
