If you’re looking for a hot investment opportunity, the healthcare industry is a great place to start. The United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) is about 18 percent devoted to healthcare (GDP). The industry continues to expand, spurred in part by the world’s aging population. Some healthcare investment opportunities stand out in particular. The following are three of the best healthcare stocks to invest in right now.
Getty Images is the source of this image.
.
Surgical Intuition
Not long ago, performing surgeries with the assistance of a robot would have been science fiction. However, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) has been a pioneer in the application of robotic surgical technology for the past two decades. The company’s surgical robots have now conducted over 8.5 million procedures.
Intuitive Surgical still has a lot of room to expand. According to the company, roughly 6 million procedures are conducted each year for which its robotic systems have already received regulatory approval. Last year, Intuitive’s systems were employed in five times the amount of procedures. In the future, aging patterns should generate even bigger volumes for those treatments.
Intuitive Surgical is also investing in research and development to broaden the procedures that can be performed with its devices. According to the company, around 20 million soft tissue surgical procedures are conducted each year, and it intends to target all of them.
Yes, Intuitive will not have the entire market to themselves. It does, however, have a significant first-mover advantage and a proven track record of success. Customers appreciate Intuitive, as indicated by the company’s 69 Net Promoter Score (NPS). A NPS of 50 or higher is considered outstanding. As the use of robotic surgery grows over the next decade, this stock should skyrocket.
Teladoc Health is a healthcare company based in Tel Aviv
The concept of virtual doctor visits has been around for a long time. But, because to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth really took off in 2020. Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) was one of the top gainers, with its stock rising about 140 percent.
Telehealth, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. After the pandemic is ended, international consulting company McKinsey & Company believes that the yearly virtual-care industry in the United States will expand to roughly $250 billion. Teladoc, as the largest provider of telehealth services, should be able to benefit from this expansion.
Naturally, such a large market opportunity attracts competitors. Teladoc will soon face a new threat from Amazon.com, in addition to its present competitors. The internet behemoth recently announced plans to roll out its Amazon Care telehealth service to all U.S. employees this summer, with plans to expand to other companies later in the year.
Teladoc, on the other hand, should be able to compete with Amazon. More than 40% of the Fortune 500 companies are already among its clients. The company’s acquisition of Livongo Health last year also gave it a digital health platform for assisting people with chronic illnesses, something none of its competitors had.
Above all, the telehealth market is large enough to support numerous winners in the long run. One of them will very definitely be Teladoc Health.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company based in the United States
While there is considerable competition from Intuitive Surgical and Teladoc Health, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) has a monopoly. Vertex sells all four of the medications that are currently approved in the United States to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF).
Vertex has benefited greatly from its monopoly. It’s also given the biotech a $6.7 billion cash pile, which is impressive. Vertex is expected to put that money to good use by entering into agreements to expand its pipeline.
The firm, on the other hand, has its sights set on something other than CF. Within the next few months, Vertex hopes to release data from a phase 2 study of VX-864 in treating another uncommon genetic illness, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. It is collaborating with CRISPR Therapeutics to test CTX001, a gene-editing therapeutic, in the treatment of the rare blood illnesses beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Later this year, Vertex plans to release data from a phase 2 study of VX-147 in the treatment of the rare genetic condition APOL1-mediated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
The most fascinating prospect for Vertex, however, is in an illness that isn’t that uncommon. VX-880, an experimental gene treatment for treating type 1 diabetes, was pushed into clinical testing by the biotech company earlier this month. VX-880, according to Vertex, has the potential to effectively cure the condition.
All of Vertex’s pipeline candidates are unlikely to be successful. However, the company only needs one or two of them to succeed in order to continue to grow at a rapid pace in the future.
This post is the author’s own view, which may differ from a Motley Fool premium advice service’s “official” recommendation position. We’re a mishmash! Questioning an investing theory, even our own, encourages us to think critically about investing and make decisions that will make us smarter, happier, and wealthier.
Continue reading
