Three ASX healthcare shares are making their shareholders very happy today, posting gains of 5%, 12% and 19% respectively in morning trade.
And this strong performance comes despite some broader healthcare sector headwinds on Thursday, which sees the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) down 0.4% at this same time.
So, which three ASX healthcare shares are bucking the trend and flying higher?
I'm glad you asked!
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Three ASX healthcare shares leaping higher
The first company pleasing shareholders today is Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM). Immutep shares are trading for 34.7 cents apiece, up 11.9%. That sees the ASX healthcare share up 22% in a year.
Investors are bidding up the clinical-stage biotechnology company following two positive drug trial announcements.
First Immutep reported on positive data from the Phase I trial evaluating its eftilagimod alpha (efti) in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) and chemotherapy for first-line treatment of metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer patients.
"The strength of these mature survival results coupled with a favourable safety profile in first-line treatment of patients with non-squamous NSCLC, the vast majority of whom have negative or low PD-L1 expression, is very encouraging," project lead Salah-Eddin Al-Batran said.
Immutep also reported on new data from a Phase II trial of efti in combination with radiotherapy plus pembrolizumab for patients with soft tissue sarcoma.
According to the release:
Based on preliminary analysis among 21 patients available for primary endpoint assessment, the triple combination therapy demonstrates significant efficacy in the neoadjuvant setting for resectable STS.
Which brings us to the second ASX healthcare share leaping higher today, Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB).
Shares in the clinical-stage biotechnology company are up 18.7% today, trading for $1.81 each.
There's no fresh news out from Mesoblast since its quarterly update on 31 October. But the stock has been in a strong upward trend, with today marking the eighth consecutive trading day of gains. Mesoblast shares are now up an eye-popping 480% in 2024.
Which brings us to the third ASX healthcare share pleasing its investors on Thursday, pharmaceuticals company Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU).
Neuren shares have given back some of their early morning gains but remain up a healthy 4.9% at $17.35 each. Shares are up 22% over 12 months.
Investors are bidding up the Neuren share price today after the company announced its intention to commence an on-market share buyback program of up to $50 million. When a company buys back its shares on market, it tends to increase the value of the remaining shares.
Management stated:
Considering Neuren's sustainable and growing cash income from DAYBUE, the capital requirements for advancing NNZ-2591 and Neuren's current share price, the board has decided to deploy cash of up to $50 million to buy back shares
The ASX healthcare share's DAYBUE (trofinetide) product is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Rett syndrome in adult and paediatric patients two years of age and older.
Neuren's NNZ-2591 drug is in Phase 2 development for the treatment of multiple neurodevelopmental disorders.
