ASX January Health Winners: Artrya and EBR among the leaders in strong month

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• The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index rose 3.20% in January as the S&P/ASX 200 rose 5% to a record high
• Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie said February looking more volatile as new US tariffs placed on several countries
• EBR up 61% in January on positive news flow with its WiSE CRT FDA approval expected by April 13, 2025

The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care (ASX:XHJ) Index rose 3.20% in January as markets had a strong start to 2025 with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rising by 5% to reach a new record high.

Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie told Stockhead January was a strong month for the sector but we’ll obviously have to wait and see how February plays out amid a Trump-tariff-induced trade skirmish.

“January is always very quiet and I always think January is a pretty good month to go shopping,” Wilkie said.

“If there’s anything which has been beaten down it’s a good time to pick up some stocks when no one is really watching and you’re not competing with other buyers.”

New Zealand based  Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH) revealed on Monday  it could be impacted by US President Donald Trump’s latest proposed (but now paused for at least a month) tariffs on Mexico.

Measured by volume, the company said it made about 45% of its products in Mexico, with the remainder made in New Zealand.

About 60% of the Mexican output is supplied to the US and these products would be hit if a 25% tariff were to go ahead.

“Trump is now in the hot seat so things are moving quickly,” Wilkie said.

“Fisher & Paykel may need to do a bit of a review.”

How ASX biotechs performed in January

Artrya (ASX:AYA), a heart-care focused health tech company, was the top performer in January rising 70.8%.

Amid this rise, the company was hit with a please explain by the ASX, responding it was not aware of information that had not been announced to the market, which if known, could explain recent trading in its shares.

Artrya did note positive research reports on the company in late 2024. Investor anticipation of the US FDA 510(k) clearance for the company’s Salix Coronary Anatomy product may be driving some price movement.

“The FDA have reviewed our application and have requested some additional information supporting the application,” CEO Mathew Regan said in the Q2 FY25 results released on January 29.

“We are on track to respond to the request and remain confident of a clearance by the end of March 2025.”

EBR Systems (ASX:EBR) rose 61% in January with several positive announcements and also a price query by the ASX. Among announcements EBR said the FDA manufacturing pre-approval inspection (PAI) had been successfully completed and it expected its WiSE CRT (cardiac resynchronisation therapy) system to gain approval on or before April 13, 2025, with commercial launch in H2 CY25.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has also accepted EBR’s WiSE CRT system into the highly selective Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies reimbursement pathway. EBR briefly hit Morgans’ price target of $1.76 in January before paring back gains.

Retinal-diseases-focused biotech Opthea (ASX:OPT) was up 40.7% in January. Opthea is awaiting two phase III trial results in CY25.

Topline data from its COAST phase III trial investigating OPT-302, in combination with aflibercept for the treatment of wet-AMD, was due early in Q2 CY25.

Results for its phase III ShORe trial investigating OPT-302 in combination with Ranibizumab in wet AMD are due in mid CY25.

“Opthea is very much straight out of the biotech playbook with very large and clear catalysts coming up,” Wilkie said.

Cyclopharm (ASX:CYC) rose 40.1% in January and was also hit with a price query from the ASX early in the month. Cyclopharm also said it was unaware of any information concerning it that has not been announced to the market which, if known by some in the market, could explain recent trading in its shares.

Later in the month, on January 28, Cyclopharm announced the signing of a major contract with Hospital Corporation of America Healthcare (HCA), one of the largest single healthcare providers in the US.

Cyclopharm said the agreement marked a significant milestone for the company which will allow deployment of its Technegas in up to 169 nuclear medicine departments across HCA’s extensive network. Technegas is a nuclear medicine-based device to detect pulmonary embolisms.

In November Cyclopharm announced it had received purchase orders from two US Veterans Health Administration (VA) Hospitals.

“They have a pretty good road map if the initial sites like their product with years of new contracts and unit sales ahead of them so Cylopharm is definitely one to watch,” Wilkie said.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While EBR Systems is a  Stockhead advertisers, the company did not sponsor this article.

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