Check Up: Most health stocks have been feeling unwell, but Singular Health has tripled from IPO price

Here’s our fortnightly wrap of all the news driving ASX health stocks.

It’s been a pretty dismal two weeks for ASX healthcare stocks, with 90 of the 134 small-cap companies we track in the sector losing ground and just 33 gaining it. Another 10 companies were flat while the last just joined the ASX yesterday.

Taking a longer view, 67 companies of these companies are up so far in 2021, while 57 are down.

AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) has been the biggest loser over the fortnight, falling 26.9 per cent to 19c. But given that diagnostic testing company is still up 81 per cent for the year and nearly 11-fold in the past 12 months, we don’t imagine long-term shareholders are complaining too much.

Meanwhile, the best performer from February 17 to March 3 was medtech Singular Health (ASX:SHG), which only joined the ASX on February 12. SHG shares gained 40 per cent over the two weeks to finish yesterday at 63c.

The medical imaging company raised $6 million at 20 cents per share under the IPO offer, meaning investors like Bhavdip Sanghavi (well known as @Bhavdip143 on Twitter) have more than tripled their money in a short period of time.

Boom $SHG

Up 225 % from IPO

And up 100 % from day one of listing

You’re welcome

My thoughts on $SHG on @StockheadAU https://t.co/RRCNgKrjYa

Cheers https://t.co/WUpIB24DJc pic.twitter.com/jXofbPW2gc

— Bhavdip (@bhavdip143) March 1, 2021

Race Oncology

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) was the second-best performer, with its shares up 31.6 per cent in the two weeks from February 17 to March 3. They gained 4.6 per cent yesterday to close at $3.91, its best-ever finish. RAC shares in the afternoon changed hands at $3.98, equalling an intraday all-time high set on Tuesday.

The company has been riding a wave of positive sentiment since its announcement on February 23 that pre-clinical data from the University of Newcastle indicates its small molecule anti-cancer drug, Bisantrene, could be an effective chemotherapeutic agent against ovarian cancer.

The precision oncology company is the fifth-best performer on our list so far in 2021, having gained 123 per cent, and the third-best gainer in the last 12 months, with a 1,085 per cent rise.

Allegra Orthopaedics (ASX:AMT) was up 21.7 per cent over the fortnight, to 36.5c, following progress on its spinal cage, a 3D-printable synthetic device that aims to regenerate bone and be completely absorbed by the body.

The fourth-best gainer is OptiScan Imaging (ASX:OIL), which advanced 21.6 per cent over the two weeks after announcing February 25 that its revenue for the half-year ended December 31 was up 60.4 per cent to $533,574.

The endoscope manufacturer’s loss was up as well, however, by 37.5 per cent to $751,715.

Shareholders obviously see potential, with OIL shares up 114 per cent year-to-date and by 834 per cent in the past 12 months.