health bios carry the batton into 2012

Healthcare companies rebound in 2012: Acrux, ResMed, Mesoblast
Saturday, April 07, 2012 by Angela Kean
While the broader Australian market may not be performing so well lately due to ongoing eurozone concerns and a tumbling of precious metals prices, a number of healthcare companies have made a comeback.

The healthcare sector as a whole has undoubtedly suffered the same setbacks as the rest of the Australian market, however there have been a few standout performers in 2012.

Global pharma Acrux (ASX: ACR) kicked of the year with a low of A$2.83, but has since rallied 44% to hit an intra-day high of $4.09 on 22 March.

The company was trading at an intra-day high of $4 on Thursday 5 April.

Acrux reported a half year profit after tax of $5.1 million in February on revenues of $4.7 million.

The company’s Axiron® testosterone therapy achieved an 11% share of total prescriptions for transdermal testosterone therapies in 10 months.

The transdermal testosterone therapy market in the United States grew by 22% in 2011, reaching about US$1.5 billion per annum.

Acrux expects to generate around US$40 million in Axiron® revenues in the 2012-13 financial year.

Sleep disorder specialist ResMed (ASX: RMD) is a mover in 2012, with shares having risen over 30% to an intra-day high of $3.10 on 23 March, compared to its low of $2.38 on 3 January.

The company hit an intra-day high of $3.04 just before the Easter break.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals (ASX: SIP) is another big cap that is working its way up in 2012. The company made gains when shares rallied to their highest point of $0.66 on 27 March, marking a 29% increase over the low of $0.52 reported at the start of the year.

Sigma is now trading at around $0.64.

The company recently announced strong profits for the year to 31 January 2012.

Net profit after tax from continuing operations came in at $50.3 million compared to a net loss of $73.1 million in the previous year.

Earnings before interest and taxes totalled $70.3 million compared to a $9.1 million loss in the previous corresponding period.

While major reforms to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme are expected to dampen sales, Sigma says it will continue to respond through cost reduction measures and the re-negotiation of customer terms to negate the impact on its business.

Meanwhile, stem cell technology developer Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) has also made gains in 2012, jumping 17.5% to an intra-day high of $8.11 on 20 February, up from a low of $6.90 at the start of the year.

The company was trading at an intra-day high of $7.91 on Thursday 5 April.

During the last half of 2011, Mesoblast executed a global manufacturing alliance with leading biologics manufacturer Lonza, which provides certainty of manufacturing capacity to meet the company’s long-term projections for supply of clinical product.

Mesoblast is developing its novel adult stem cell therapeutics for degenerative conditions of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems in partnership with global biopharmaceutical company Cephalon, which is now wholly owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries................... Cheers Vin