Check-up: Novita cracked some codes in the US and sextupled its share price

Link copied to
clipboard

Here’s our fortnightly wrap of the major small cap health stock winners and losers.

 One small cap ASX healthcare company has stormed home to top the tables at the end of October.

Novita Healthcare (ASX:NHL) shares have exploded 500 per cent in the past fortnight, hitting 6c after announcing its TALi Detect program — a tool used identify potential attention deficits in children — had been approved for reimbursement under the relevant ‘CPT’ codes.

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes are medical codes are administered by the American Medical Association, as a way to provide a standardised set of guidelines for clinical validation.

The regulatory approval means that Novita will be able to deploy its TALi Detect program before the end of the year and the company says clinician payments for attention deficit screening services amount to around $US36.04 — an amount that will be split between participants delivering the service and Novita.

And the news that the company would be generating revenue made shareholders ravenous; NHL shares hit their highest point since 2011, when the company was known as Avexa and focused on infectious diseases.

Medtech companies gained in the past two weeks, though there was little in the way of national health news to spur them on (though there may be an opportunity for stocks with exposure to mental illnesses, with a recent report outlining it is costing the Australian economy $180 billion a year).

LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT) was the third-biggest gainer in the period, up 65 per cent after announcing the first sale of its APAS Independence instrument in the European Union.

The Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS) is based on LBT’s intelligent imaging and machine learning software and is the only US FDA-cleared artificial intelligence technology for automated imaging, analysis and interpretation of culture plates following incubation.

Allegra Orthopaedics (ASX:AMT) gained 36 per cent, though it had no news.

Overall, not accounting for Novita’s massive run, the healthcare small cap healthcare sector shed 4 per cent.

Skin disease biotech Botanix (ASX:BOT) was the period’s biggest loser. An announcement last week on its drug BTX 1503, designed to treat acne, read positively, but it missed its primary endpoint, the reduction in inflammatory lesions, sending shares crashing 54 per cent.

Here are all the ASX small cap health and biotech stocks and their performance in the past fortnight:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort

share

• 
• 
• 
• 

Link copied to
clipboard

SUBSCRIBE

Get the latest Stockhead news delivered free to your inbox.

Name*

Email*

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Email Lists

Morning Update

Lunch Update

Market Close Update

Weekend Update

Spotlight

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

It's free. Unsubscribe whenever you want.

By proceeding, you confirm you understand that we handle personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

You might be interested in

Health & Biotech

Health Check: Clinical trials don’t sleigh down for the silly season

December 17, 2024 | Tim Boreham

Health & Biotech

Scott Power: Which small medtech lifted 70pc this week after US contract win?

December 6, 2024 | Nadine McGrath

Health & Biotech

Biocurious: No sweat as Botanix tackles the world’s third-biggest skin disorder

November 13, 2024 | Tim Boreham