ASX pharmaceutical shares and other healthcare stocks are off to a positive start on Tuesday.
The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) is up 0.46%, while the benchmark ASX 200 is down 0.39%.
At the time of writing, health care is the leading market sector of the ASX 200 today.
Stuart Bromley from the Medallion Financial Group has revealed his two buying picks among ASX pharmaceutical shares this month.
Let's take a look.
Broker says buy on these 2 ASX pharmaceutical shares
Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT)
Opthea is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing drugs to treat common and progressive eye retinal diseases.
These include wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), one of the leading causes of vision loss for older adults, and diabetic macular edema (DME).
Opthea's lead product candidate is sozinibercept.
The company is testing the drug in two phase 3 clinical trials, where it is used in combination with standard-of-care anti-VEGF-A monotherapies to try to achieve superior outcomes.
The company anticipates top-line readouts in early 2Q CY25 (COAST trial) and mid-CY25 (SHORE trial). If successful, Opthea hopes to apply for United States Food and Drug Administration approval.
In June, the company conducted a capital raising at 40 cents a share to fund phase 3 trials and strengthen its balance sheet.
As the following chart shows, this ASX pharmaceutical share has dipped and then lifted sharply in recent months.
The Opthea share price has risen by 120% since 1 July and 166% over the past 12 months.
Bromley told The Bull:
Results from phase 2 trials were encouraging. In June, OPT raised almost $230 million to carry it through phase 3 clinical trials, with results expected mid next year.
We would expect to see significant share price upside if the results are positive. But there is risk involved. The share price has been enjoying favourable momentum since July.
The Opthea share price is currently trading at 77 cents, down 0.39% on Tuesday.
LTR Pharma Ltd (ASX: LTP)
LTR Pharma is seeking to commercialise a nasal spray called Spontan that treats erectile dysfunction.
The company says the spray works within 9 minutes compared to 56 minutes for traditional tablets.
Following a successful clinical trial, Australian medical providers have started prescribing Spontan under the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Special Access Scheme (SAS).
Australian men are the first in the world to have access to Spontan.
Last month, LTR Pharma announced a co-development global markets agreement for Sponton.
Bromley commented on the company's progress:
In August, the company announced a first select group of patients had been prescribed Spontan under the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) authorised prescriber scheme.
In July, the company raised $10.5 million via a share placement to advance Spontan's regulatory pathways and expand its research and development pipeline.
Keep up to date with news developments as Spontan may potentially become an exciting prospect.
This ASX pharmaceutical share has risen 442% over the past six months and 342% over the past year.
The LTR Pharma share price is currently trading at $1.68, up 0.90% on Tuesday.
