Good morning Armchair Army,
Welcome to today's edition of The Armchair Analyst, a 5-minute daily update on the ASX life-sciences sector.
Today marks edition #100 of The Armchair Analyst newsletter.
Six months ago, I quit my job to start this newsletter about healthcare stocks.
I didn’t know how it would go or where it would take me, but there were several things that I wanted to do.
FIRST…
I wanted to learn as much as I could about investing in healthcare stocks.
The catalysts. The macrotrends. The capital and interest cycles.
SECOND…
I wanted to share the stories of the 165 ASX-listed companies that make up the ASX healthcare sector in a way that was easy to frame for the everyday investor.
46 covered so far.
THIRD…
I wanted to partner with a select number of high-potential investments that I personally back as part of the Armchair Stock Portfolio.
Two stocks selected - Emyria (ASX: EMD) and Tetratherix (ASX: TTX). Three more to come in 2026.
FOURTH…
I wanted to provide a platform for a range of voices in the healthcare industry to share insights that help investors better understand topics they may not have fully grasped.
So far, I’ve had guest posts from a surgeon, multiple analysts, a recruiter, a CSO… my dad.
… and there are many more things to come.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads The Armchair Analyst.
Whether you’ve been with me since the start, or just signed up yesterday.
Thank you.
I have the pleasure of waking up every day to write about the things that interest me most.
I won’t ever take that for granted.
One small ask to mark the milestone.
If you've learned something new from any of these first 100 newsletters, do me one favour…
Forward this email to a mate.
Word of mouth is how this newsletter has grown, and it's the single best thing you can do to help.
Legends!
See you all tomorrow.
The Pulse Check
If you’re a shareholder of Emyria (ASX: EMD) (like me!), I would highly recommend listening to the March quarterly update on the rollout of its psychedelic-assisted therapy clinics in Australia:
Key highlights include:
Emyria has a big role to play in the US with its ‘unique skillset’ as the only scaled psychedelic-assisted therapy clinic globally.
Emyria broke down the authorised prescribers by region. Perth: 8 (+1 application), Brisbane: 3 (+2 applications), and Melbourne: 1 (+3 applications). A facility can run at full capacity at 10 APs. So this is very good progress.
While the TGA was ‘amber’ for speed, all six approvals that were pending for Emyria made it through. This is a good sign for future applications.
Regulatory bodies are looking to expand eligibility requirements for therapists. Right now, you need at least one clinical psychologist in the room. Clinical psychs are less common, and recruitment can be a bottleneck to Emyria’s growth. If the TGA expand its eligibility for therapists in the room, very good news for Emyria.
Workers' Compensation is starting to fund treatments on an ad hoc basis.
As Emyria grows capacity (more clinics), the regulatory milestones will unlock utilisation.
There are still 80%-90% utilisation growth opportunities within the existing clinics. This will grow as more APs and therapists are trained and available.
Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG) announces that Chemist Warehouse will be entering the UK via a Joint Venture with Greenlight Healthcare. (SIG, AFR)
Entropy Neurodynamics (ASX: ENP) files a new US patent for psychedelic treatment for IBS. (ENP)
🪑Good follow-up to yesterday’s Phase 2a results showing 75% response rate in IBS.
Control Bionics (ASX: CBL) outlines its brain-computer interface technology across three strategic pillars: Assistive Communication, Neurological Solutions, and Platform. (CBL)
🪑 Much more streamlined presentation. I like it. I’m catching up with the Chairman Stephen Rix today… looking forward to hearing the story.
Nova Eye Medical (ASX: EYE) upgrades FY26 sales guidance by US$1M to US$22-23M following record April sales. (EYE)
🪑 🤨
EYE’s lifted…? sorry.
Beamtree (ASX: BMT) secures a $2M contract with Fakeeh Care Group for hospital coding solutions in Saudi Arabia. (BMT)
🪑Probably more interesting in the announcement than the contract was the “pencil sharpening” that the company will do to streamline costs (including sales, product and development).
Cann Group (ASX: CAN) announces the resignation of CEO Jenni Pilcher. (CAN)
🪑 Jenni was a “restructure and reset” type of CEO. Taking the debt from $70 million to less than $15 million.
The question is, did she resign because the company is ready to rebound? OR is it because the CAN story was too hard to turn around?
Cash Injection
ImpediMed (ASX: IPD) announces a $15.2M capital raise at 1 cent per share. (IPD)
🪑 Very chunky raise this one. Before the raise, the company had 2 billion shares on issue. This will release a further ~1.5 billion shares.
The raise is essentially 75% of the entire company market cap.
I think the goal with this raise is to get the company enough cash runway to “get to breakeven”. Let’s see how it goes.
Intelicare (ASX: ICR) announces a trading halt pending a cap raise. (ICR)
🪑 I wrote about Intelicare yesterday as part of my coverage of the Aged Care Sector.
The balance sheet was a major risk point for the company, so this capital raise is intended to mitigate that risk.
