Daily Brief Health Care: Illumina Inc, JTEC Corp/Osaka, Akeso Biopharma Inc, Edwards Lifesciences, BenQ BM Holding Cayman Corp., Actinogen Medical, Teva Pharmaceutical Sp Adr and more

• Illumina reports a successful 2023 but is bracing for a challenging 2024 amid continued macroeconomic hurdles.
• The company delivered a higher-than-expected consolidated revenue of approximately $1.12 billion in the fourth quarter, marking an increase of 4% year over year.
• CEO Jacob Thaysen highlighted the latest product, NovaSeq X, as the most successful high-throughput product launch in the company’s history.

• JTEC Corp is a specialist technology innovator, and a global market leader in customized X-ray mirrors used in synchrotron radiation and X-ray free-electron laser facilities worldwide.
• With its competitive advantage in technology through high R&D spending and strong partnerships with academic and research institutions, the company is switching back to a robust growth trajectory driven by 1) normalized business conditions post- COVID-19,
• 2) new construction and upgrade demand for synchrotron radiation facilities, particularly from China, and 3) business expansion in the life sciences and semiconductor sectors.

• C1Q24 was marked by liquidity crises in innovative drug and medical device, and depressed margin in digital health. We believe this is a buying opportunity;
• PD-1 has recovered nicely in C2H23 and exceeded our expectation made for 2023.We forecast 20% YoY growth in 2024.Further,pipeline maturity has led to new drugs in autoimmune and metabolic drugs;
• Biosimilar has proven to be part of the solution to deal with low paying ability of Chinese healthcare and denial of access to the high paying US healthcare market. 

• Edwards Lifesciences, a medical technology company specializing in artificial heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, recently reported the Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings, where insights about the company’s past performance and future prospects were shared.
• The company’s CEO, Bernard Zovighian, highlighted a strong financial performance in 2023, with a sales increment of 12% reaching up to $6 billion, building a strong presence across all four product groups.
• Investments in research and development went beyond $1 billion, and it hit strategic milestones like the introduction of innovative technologies for sustainable growth.

• The business model for general hospitals is not good (e.g. heavy assets, challenging operations, low profits, difficult to replicate and expand nationwide), which has never been a profitable business.
• BenQ’s profitability is not attractive if compared with for-profit specialized hospitals. The “benefit chain” of hospitals is actually very complicated, which makes it challenging to attract/retain good medical talents.
• BenQ’s overall revenue growth could slow down in the future. Its profit margin is also not attractive. It would be difficult for BenQ to achieve a high valuation after IPO. 

Actinogen Medical announced that the first randomised patient in its Phase IIb XanaMIA trial of lead candidate Xanamem received their first treatment on Friday 12 April. This study is designed to enrol c 220 patients with cognitive impairment (CI) associated with biomarker-positive mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as confirmed through an elevated level of phosphorylated Tau-181 (pTau-181) protein in their blood at baseline. The study has commenced at 13 Australian sites and will concentrate on domestic sites for the first c 100 patients, and initial efficacy and safety results will be analysed when these patients reach 24 weeks of treatment. These results are now expected in mid-CY25 (vs prior guidance of H1 CY25) and Actinogen expects to expand the trial to US study sites following this interim readout. In the near term, the next material milestone for the company will be results, now expected in early Q3 CY24 (vs Q2 CY24 previously), from its Phase IIa XanaCIDD study in patients with CI and major depressive disorder (MDD).

• Teva Pharmaceuticals and Viatris Inc are leading global generic pharmaceutical manufacturers with diverse drug portfolios.
• Both companies are currently undervalued and are anticipated to see substantial shareholder returns in 2024.
• Despite challenges in the US generic drug industry, Teva and Viatris are poised for significant upside potential in the near future.

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.