Due to ageing populations, population growth, increased chronic disease burden, and new technologies, I expect demand for healthcare services and products to grow strongly over the next decade.
This could make these small cap healthcare shares worth considering with a long-term view:
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV)
Clinuvel is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering treatments for patients with a range of severe genetic and skin disorders. Investors have been fighting to get hold of its shares this year due to positive developments related to its SCENESSE product. SCENESSE has been developed as a first-line pharmaceutical product aimed at treating patients with the rare genetic disorder erythropoietic protoporphyria. Demand for SCENESSE has been growing strongly this year, leading to cash receipts rising 89% to $10.75 million in the September quarter. Looking ahead, these cash receipts will get a sizeable boost if the drug is approved for sale in the United States.
Paragon Care Ltd (ASX: PGC)
Paragon Care is a medical device, equipment, and product distributor which is currently trading at a 52-week low of 60 cents. Its shares have come under pressure recently after the trading update it provided at its annual general meeting fell short of expectations. Paragon Care reported 7% organic growth year to date, which is lower than its 10% target. In addition to this, operating costs were running at around 30% of revenue for the first four months compared to its target of 26%. While this is slightly disappointing, at just 11x earnings I think its shares look great value.
Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)
This healthcare technology company has been a big mover on the ASX over the last 12 months thanks to the growing popularity of its breast imaging analytics and analysis software. This software has been growing its share of the U.S. breast screening market at an impressive rate and shows no signs of slowing. One big benefit of its growing market share is the increasing amount of breast imaging analytics data flowing to the cloud. As well as using this data to help detect breast cancer early, it intends to leverage it to develop new products.
