Daily Brief Health Care: Celltrion Inc, Neurowyzr, IDEXX Laboratories, Illumina Inc, BrainAurora Medical Technology, Novo Nordisk A/S, Agilent Technologies, Boryung Pharmaceutical, Iqvia Holdings, AFT Pharmaceuticals and more

• For the month of August 2023, 11 new deals (firm and non-binding) were discussed on Smartkarma with an overall announced deal size of ~US$29bn.
• The average premium for the new deals announced (or first discussed) in August was 25%. The average YTD is 34%.
• This compares to the average premium for all deals in 2022 (106 deals), 2021 (165 deals), 2020 (158 deals), and 2019 (145 deals) of 41%, 33%, 31%, and 31% respectively.

“The brain is a complex organ, and also the least understood,” Pang Sze Yunn, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based healthtech platform Neurowyzr, told Tech in Asia. 

According to Pang, early brain decline can take between 20 and 40 years before obvious conditions such as dementia, mental health diseases, or stroke occur.

“By then, therapies have little impact,” she added. “Traditional brain tests are inefficient, expensive and inaccessible.”

• IDEXX Laboratories surpassed Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations, showcasing strong growth and financial performance.
• The company achieved a 10% organic increase in overall revenues, driven by remarkable growth in CAG Diagnostics’ recurring payments.
• IDEXX’s solid performance was particularly evident in the significant placements of premium instruments, sustained new business gains, and strong growth in recurring veterinary software revenues.

• Illumina managed to surpass the revenue expectations as well as the earnings expectations of Wall Street.
• Illumina exceeded its expectations, with approximately $1.18 billion in revenue and diluted non-GAAP EPS of $0.32.
• In the quarter, the company sold 109 NovaSeq X instruments, and their team plans to offer more than 390 instruments over the entire year.

• DTx industry is still in the early stages of development. The establishment of a matching operation/service system is a very difficult task. There is a long distance from mature commercialization. 
• BrainAurora’s sales scale is small because its products haven’t received widespread recognition from medical system in China. Internationalization is challenging because it requires cross-border transfer of personal or scientific data.
• BrainAurora’s business prospects is still unclear.As the attitude of capital market towards DTx has become more rational, investors have begun to doubt if this field could really bring good return.

• Novo Nordisk A/S had a disappointing quarter with below-par revenues and earnings just about on par with market expectations.
• In addition to investing in the medium- and long-term development of the obesity market, Novo Nordisk also established an appealing and aggressive pipeline.
• However, Novo Nordisk can still provide operating profit growth of 32% and first-half profits per share growth of 44%.

• Agilent Technologies delivered an all-around beat in the most recent quarterly result, with revenue of $1.67 billion, higher than the team had anticipated.
• The pharma market in China is down 30%, which is the main reason for their overall pharma business decline.
• In this report, we have carried out a fundamental analysis of the historical financial statements of the company.

• Boryung Pharmaceutical (003850 KS) reported strong 2Q23 result, with revenue increasing 19% YoY to a record high of KRW216 billion, driven by 24% YoY growth in prescription drugs.
• H1 2023 revenue and net profit progressed 52% and 62% of the annual target, respectively, marking the fastest semi-annual lap ever to annual target.
• Boryung has reiterated guidance for 2023 revenue and operating profit of KRW810 billion and KRW61 billion, representing growth of 12% and 1%, YoY, respectively.

• IQVIA Holdings delivered a strong result and managed an all-around beat last quarter.
• The company continues to thrive within a healthy demand environment for the industry, underpinning its optimistic long-term outlook.
• In this report, we have carried out a fundamental analysis of the historical financial statements of the company.

AFT Pharmaceuticals has reported that the Auckland High Court has cleared it of the contractual breach claim filed by PBL Solutions in April 2020, which maintained that the opportunity for Pascomer (a topical formulation of rapamycin) was not under the scope of AFT Orphan Pharmaceuticals’ (AFTO’s) business in its legal case. While the ruling dismissed PBL’s claim for a lump sum payment for the assessed present value of Pascomer’s potential, the legal authority has directed AFT to share 35% of the potential (future) profits, which may arise in orphan indications in as well as outside Asia-Pacific. We note that AFT is pursuing Pascomer in non-orphan indications such as port-wine stains and is in the very early stages of development, hence the ruling does not have a near- to medium-term impact on AFT. Our valuation at NZ$644m, or NZ$6.14 per share, and estimates for AFT are unchanged.