Healthcare's persistent underperformance over the past two years has been a source of concern for investors, with political uncertainty in the United States, rising interest rates, and the gravitational pull of capital towards AI and technology stocks all contributing to the sector's struggles. However, beneath the headline weakness, the healthcare sector's fundamentals remain in good shape across multiple sub-sectors, even as share prices have failed to reflect this. This presents an opportunity for wealth allocators in Asia to re-engage with the sector, particularly at current depressed valuations.
One key area of interest is cardiovascular medicine, where lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), represents one of the largest untapped opportunities. With roughly one in five people carrying elevated levels of this genetically determined cholesterol variant, and no approved therapy currently existing, several companies are in late-stage trials, with Phase 3 data expected in 2026. This presents a multi-billion dollar market opportunity, according to Bellevue Asset Management, which has conducted extensive diligence to ensure the scientific validity of this opportunity.
In medtech, robotic surgery continues its structural advance, with Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci 5 system incorporating AI-driven features such as simulated surgical training, tissue pressure sensing, and performance analytics. The broader medtech landscape offers significant market expansion, with Bellevue's roadshow materials projecting the continuous glucose monitoring market growing from USD11.7 billion in 2024 to USD21.3 billion by 2029, while soft-tissue surgical robotics is expected to more than double from USD8.7 billion to USD19.1 billion over the same period.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a cost and efficiency lever across drug development, clinical trials, and surgical systems, rather than a disruptive threat to the sector. In fact, AI is being deployed to accelerate drug development, improve patient selection for clinical trials, and predict toxicity profiles earlier in the process, with estimates suggesting potential savings of USD70 billion in drug development costs by 2028 and 40 to 70 percent reductions in preclinical timelines. For health insurance companies, AI enables automation of invoice processing and contract management at scale.
Patent expirations loom large over big pharma, with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue at risk over the next four to six years. M&A is an imperative rather than an option, with the 20 largest biopharma companies collectively holding more than USD1 trillion in combined cash and additional debt capacity. Major transactions in 2025 and early 2026 underscore that the cycle is well underway, with medtech M&A also accelerating through deals such as Boston Scientific's USD14.4 billion acquisition of Penumbra and Danaher's USD9.7 billion purchase of Masimo.
For wealth managers and family office professionals, healthcare remains structurally underweight in most portfolios, even as the sector's defensive qualities and innovation-driven growth make it an increasingly logical complement to concentrated technology positions. As one multi-family office representative put it, 'Healthcare is one of the best sectors for our generation because of the domain expertise required.'
Bellevue Asset Management, which manages in excess of USD6 billion predominantly in publicly listed healthcare equities and employs around 20 investment professionals with backgrounds spanning natural sciences and finance, positions itself as a specialist partner for investors seeking differentiated healthcare exposure. With vehicles covering broad healthcare, medtech, and services, and emerging markets healthcare, the firm is making the case that the current dislocation represents a window that disciplined allocators would do well not to ignore.
