ASX healthcare shares were in the red yesterday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) down 0.21% while the broader S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) was up 0.18%.
Here are two ASX healthcare small-cap shares that brokers are backing for future growth.
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Experts rate 2 ASX healthcare small-cap shares
Let's see what these brokers have to say.
PYC Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: PYC)
PYC is a clinical-stage ASX biotech in the gene therapy space.
This ASX healthcare small-cap share was trading at $1.74, up 2.96% at the market close on Thursday. PYC shares have risen by an astonishing 1,640% in the year to date.
Canaccord Genuity has a buy rating on PYC Therapeutics shares with a 12-month price target of $2.40. This implies a potential 38% upside for investors.
In a recent note, Canaccord discussed PYC's update to its existing VP-001 Phase I/II dataset for Retinitis Pigmentosa 11, or RP-11. This rare disease causes blindness and has no currently available treatments.
Canaccord analysts Elyse Shapiro and Madeleine Williams said the data update was "broadly positive".
The analysts said:
Net-net, we view the consistency in benefit across LLVA (low luminance visual acuity), and reduced number of scotomas (blind spots) as a positive sign that VP-001 is having a positive impact on functional outcomes.
Patient numbers are low to attribute statistical significance, and the study wasn't powered for this, but the error bars indicate that the data has demonstrated a statistically significant improvement at some, and is extremely close, at certain timepoints, which is very impressive to us.
Shapiro and Williams said there were known immunogenic issues associated with gene therapy for the retina. However, they have confidence in VP-001's safety profile.
We continue to look forward to additional data updates for the high dose segment (75 mcg), and longer-term outcomes from the extension study.
PYC Therapeutics shares were among 8 ASX All Ords stocks upgraded to strong buy ratings last month by analysts on the CommSec trading platform.
4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX)
This company is a medical technology company in the field of lung imaging and ventilation analysis.
This ASX healthcare small-cap share closed at 52 cents, down 5.50% on Thursday and down 28.4% in 2024.
The latest note on 4DMedical from Ord Minnett, published on asx.com.au last week, shows the broker has a speculative buy rating with a share price target of $1.10.
This implies a potential 111.5% upside for investors.
4DMedical presented ongoing clinical trial results of its ventilation and perfusion technology, CT:VQ, at the Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting in Chicago yesterday.
CT:VQ is an advanced imaging solution that provides an alternative to traditional Nuclear VQ scans, which require the use of radioactive isotopes and other expensive infrastructure.
4DMedical hopes to submit CT:VQ for approval with the US Food and Drug Administration in mid-2025.
