ASX June Health Winners: Sector falls 1.05pc but Amplia up 300pc after positive trial news

• The ASX 200 Health Care Index fell 1.05% in June and remains the worst performing sector YTD down 6.64%
• Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie said June likely saw some tax loss selling before EOFY 
• Amplia up 300% in June after complete responses in two advanced (metastatic) pancreatic cancer patients in ACCENT trial

While the broader market showed resilience to global geopolitical and economic pressures in June, the ASX 200 Health Care index remained in poor shape, falling 1.05% for the month.

The sector remains the worst-performing ASX sector year-to-date and the only one in the red, down 6.64%.

Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie told Stockhead the first half of 2025 had been highly volatile for the global healthcare sector, driven by policy uncertainty in the US.

He said Donald Trump’s policies were impacting the sector including funding cuts and shakeups to regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In addition, Trump is advancing the ‘Most Favored Nation’ (MFN) drug pricing policy, which seeks to align US prescription medicine prices with the lowest levels paid in other developed nations.

While the policy’s full implementation remains pending, it has already created uncertainty for pharmaceutical companies, with no clear path yet on how it will be enforced or the potential market ramifications.

Wilkie said the sector likely also saw some tax loss selling in June – the final month of the Australian financial year –  with many investors crystallising losses in this space to offset gains made in other parts of their portfolios.

“We often view this month as a potential opportunity to stock up on some companies at a discount if we continue to see long term value in them and approaching significant catalysts,” he said.

How ASX biotechs performed in June

Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX) rose 300% in June after a series of positive announcements including confirmed pathological complete responses recorded in two advanced (metastatic) pancreatic cancer patient as part of its ACCENT trial.

The trial is investigating Amplia’s best-in-class FAK inhibitor narmafotinib in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapies gemcitabine and Abraxane in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Amplia also announced in June it had received US ethics approval of the protocol for its forthcoming Phase II clinical trial of narmafotinib in combination with the chemotherapy FOLFIRINOX in advanced pancreatic cancer.

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:NSB) was up 50% in June after announcing it had acquired 100% of Perth-based unlisted company Isopogen WA, which owns or holds the rights to commercialise the patented StemSmart stem cell technology.

Furthermore, Neuroscientific said previous clinical data showed StemSmart was effective in preventing graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a common complication of bone-marrow transplants.

A phase I clinical trial in adults with steroid-refractory GVHD, and a series of children treated on compassionate grounds for steroid-refractory GVHD found the majority of adults and children responded to StemSmartTM with a complete or partial resolution of symptoms and improved survival.

Clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company Clarity Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CU6) rose 15.7% in June after a series of positive announcements including positive topline data from two trials.

Its diagnostic phase II trial DISCO confirmed that Cu-SARTATE was safe and highly effective compared to standard-of-care imaging at detecting lesions in patients with neuroendocrine tumours.

Topline results from Clarity’s Phase II SABRE trial showed that Cu-SAR-Bombesin was safe, well tolerated, and effective at detecting prostate cancer in patients with biochemical recurrence who had negative or unclear results on standard scans, including PSMA PET.

Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) rose 14.8% with a series of positive announcements including positive trial results for its lead drug candidate NUZ-001.

Preclinical data demonstrated significant neuroprotective effects of NUZ-001 and its active metabolite NUZ-001 Sulfone, in a zebrafish model of Huntington’s disease.

Neurizon also reported encouraging new rodent preclinical pharmacokinetic (PK) data for NUZ-001 and NUZ-001 Sulfone,  showing it effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier.

The ability of therapeutics to access the central nervous system remains a major barrier in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of motor neurone disease, for which the company is focused.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Neurizon Therapeutics is a Stockhead advertiser, the company did not sponsor this article.