2 Healthcare Stocks For Beginner Investors With a 30-Year Time Horizon

Investing in stocks for a long period like 30 years can open the door to significant wealth accumulation through compounding returns. However, investors need to have a well-defined strategy and a commitment to weathering inevitable market fluctuations. If you're a beginner investor, you need to clearly identify what you aim to achieve with your investments.

You should also understand how much risk you're comfortable with and how you'll react to potential market downturns. Younger investors typically have a higher risk tolerance, given their longer time horizon to recover from market volatility. Be sure to spread your investments across various asset classes, sectors, and company sizes so that you can capitalize on the diverse growth opportunities each area offers.

The healthcare industry presents a wealth of opportunities for investors to generate notable portfolio returns over decades. If you have a 30-year time horizon and are ready to build out the healthcare investment section of your portfolio, here are two names to consider right now.

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1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) holds a near monopoly in the market for drugs that treat the underlying causes of the genetic condition cystic fibrosis. This core business has long generated significant, reliable revenue and strong free cash flow, which also provides a rock-solid financial foundation for long-term research and development along with the occasional acquisition. Its patents for key CF drugs extend into the late 2030s and therefore offer a sustained revenue foundation.

As for Vertex's long-term growth potential, this primarily lies in its efforts to expand beyond CF into other serious diseases with high unmet needs. The company has a few non-CF products that it's launched more recently. One recently commercialized product is Casgevy, a gene-editing therapy with blockbuster potential that it developed with CRISPR Therapeutics for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent thalassemia.

Another is Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for moderate to severe acute pain, which represents a potential multi-billion-dollar market and offers an alternative to addictive opioids. Alfytrek is its newest CF drug, a triple-combination therapy with potential for existing patients on a Vertex drug as well as new cohorts of patients.

As for its pipeline, one notable product that Vertex has in development is Zimislecel, an investigational stem cell-derived therapy for Type 1 diabetes that has shown promising early results and holds the potential of being a functional cure.

Then there's its pipeline drugs inaxaplin and povetacicept. These are therapies that target serious autoimmune and kidney diseases and could address a patient population larger than the CF market. Inaxaplin targets APOL1-mediated kidney disease, while povetacicept targets autoimmune diseases like IgA nephropathy and primary membranous nephropathy.

Vertex reported strong third-quarter 2025 results. Its total revenue increased 11% year-over-year to $3.08 billion, in line with Wall Street estimates, and net income totaled $1.1 billion. The company maintained a robust balance of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $12 billion as of the end of the quarter.

For investors with a multi-decade time horizon and cash to invest into great healthcare stocks, Vertex looks like a worthy contender for investment capital.

2. DexCom

DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM) is the leading maker of continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGMs), and serves a global, growing population with diabetes. The rising prevalence of the condition creates a massive and sustained demand for effective diabetes management solutions like CGM devices that accurately track glucose levels and inform real-time health decisions.

The company holds a significant market share in the U.S. CGM market, but it still has a vast untapped opportunity, as fewer than 1% of the world's Type 1 diabetics currently use CGM technology. Its strong brand and established technology leave DexCom well-positioned to capture more of this market over time. There are growing use cases for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, as well as prediabetics who can benefit from CGM usage.

DexCom consistently invests in research and development and brings new products to market, such as the G7 sensor and the upcoming G8 platform, which feature longer wear times and greater accuracy than their predecessors. The company has broadened its focus beyond Type 1 diabetes patients to include the much larger population of Type 2 non-insulin users and those with prediabetes.

The launch of Stelo, an over-the-counter sensor for non-insulin users and the first of its kind to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, could significantly expand its total addressable market over the coming years. DexCom has been very successful in securing broader insurance and government coverage for its CGM systems around the world, which makes these devices more accessible and affordable for a wider range of patients.

DexCom delivered 22% revenue growth in the third quarter. U.S. revenue grew 21% year over year, while revenue in Dexcom's international markets rose 22%. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) operating income came to $242.5 million, or 20.1% of revenue.

That was an increase of 480 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2024. While the stock has been volatile over the last year or so, DexCom's business remains solid and profitable. Investors with a durable buy-and-hold horizon may want to buy shares on the dip.

Rachel Warren has positions in DexCom. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends DexCom and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $65 calls on DexCom and short January 2027 $75 calls on DexCom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.