Health Check: Don’t dis-May! ASX biotechs record strong year-on-year share gains

The ASX biotech sector dipped slightly in value in May, but stocks such as Medadvisor and Dimerix recorded lusty gains.

Don't sell in May and go away: biotechs are ripe for a rebound after a shaky month. Pic via Getty.

• Medadvisor and Dimerix lead the valuation gains in a choppy month

• Emvision and Paradigm open more pivotal trial sites

• Capital raisings click over

MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) is the ASX hero biotech of an otherwise subdued May, stacking on more than 52% in market capitalisation for the month.

The medication compliance group said it had found a probable buyer for its Australian operations, thus spurring the rally.

This supersized effort eclipsed Dimerix's (ASX:DXB) 24% surge, on the back of its May 1 news of a US distribution deal for its putative kidney disease drug.

The numbers are based on Biotech Daily’s top 40 index, which records the performance of the biggest stocks.

The newsletter also recorded the Big Four – CSL (ASX:CSL), ResMed (ASX:RMD), ProMedicus (ASX:PME) and Cochlear (ASX:COH) – separately.

Overall, the top 40 eased 2.6%, with Avita Medical (ASX:AVH) leading the decliners with a 40% tumble and Imugene (ASX:IMU) shedding 37%.

Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) shares lost 6%, translating to $555 million of lost value.

Don't dis-May

But don’t dis-May too much: the sector’s still up 9.7% year on year, just eclipsing the overall market’s 9.5% increment.

The Big Four gained 2.6%, thanks to Pro Medicus’s 21% rebound from subdued levels.

Investors had to go beyond the top 40 for the best return: pot and psychedelic drug play Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL) climbed 300 per cent, albeit having plunged 80% in April.

We’re doing better than our American friends, with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index shedding 4.2% for the month.

The index is also down 7% over the past 12 months.

On trial

In trial news, EMvision Medical Devices (ASX:EMV) is poised to activate its third US site in its pivotal trial of its bedside stroke detection device, Emu.

The site is at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, a recognised leader in stroke research and treatment.

The company is activating its second Australian site this week, at Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital (a large stroke referral centre).

These activations will bring the total of sites activated in the pivotal (validation) trial to five.

These include Houston's UTHealth and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Centre, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The study aims for US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for Emu, under the new device route.

Knees up

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:PAR) has activated the first of 11 proposed sites, for the local leg of its phase III knee osteoarthritis trial.

Melbourne’s Sportsmed Biologic is the first site, with the treatment overseen by prominent sports physician Dr Philip Bloom.

The other sites are in “various stages of start-up and activation”.

Meanwhile, 48 sites are in advanced preparation stages.

The study is pitched at FDA approval for Paradigm’s repurposed drug candidate, to treat the common and debilitating condition.

Capital-raising corner

While finding a dime in the sector remains difficult, companies are managing decent smaller raisings.

Shrugging off its US reimbursement setback, Pacific Edge (ASX:PEB) today upsized its NZ$15 million placement to NZ$16 million, with the board accepting oversubscriptions.

A NZ$5 million share purchase plan (SPP) is yet to come.

The offer is priced at NZ10 cents a share, a healthy 20% premium to the 20-day weighted average price.

The raising is partly to grow sales channels for its non-invasive bladder cancer assay Cxbladder, independent of US Medicare reimbursement.

Pacific Edge’s Medicare coverage ceased in April, after a code pertaining to genetic oncology testing was excised.

Not surpisingly, the company wants to re-gain this funding via legal and other means of suasion.

Also today, Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE) said it had placed a $7.4 million shortfall from its recent entitlement offer.

This takes total proceeds from its capital raising to $15.8 million.

The funds will support the synthetic anti-infective outfit’s phase III trials, in Indonesia and locally.

The Indonesian study treats diabetic foot infections, while the local effort is for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

Meanwhile heart device play Cardiex (ASX:CDX) has raised $2.4 million in an insto placement at 4 cents a share, with a $4.1 million rights issue opening on Friday.

And OncoSil Medical (ASX:OSL) has raised $6.7 million in a placement and hopes an SPP will reap another $2 million.

The price is one-third of a cent, a circa 20% discount.

The funds will support the Oncosil's eponymous pancreatic cancer targeted radiation device.

Thirty geographies have approved the tool, including Europe and the UK.

Best of British biotech

Data analytics house Global Data reports that venture financing for UK biopharmaceutical companies doubled in the March quarter, to US$1.1 billion.

This is the highest quarterly total since 2021.

This foreign investment surge also highlights danger for the Brit

“Growing dependence on US capital and policy-driven cost pressures signal an urgent need to strengthen domestic investment for sustainable growth.”

Originally published as Health Check: Don’t dis-May! ASX biotechs record strong year-on-year share gains