Shares in specialty pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics (STX:AIM) slid 12% to 28.5p on Thursday despite a positive update on the development of its lead drug Accrufer, an oral iron replacement therapy which it launched into the US in July 2021.
The shares have been volatile in recent months reflecting uncertainty around the commercial success of Accrufer. Given less than five months have passed since the launch, reporting full year revenues are unlikely to bring greater clarity.
For the year ended 31 December 2021 sales were £1.5 million, which the company said were in line with expectations and cash balances were £12.1 million compared with £22.6 million at the end of June 2021.
GAINING MOMENTUM
The company said that since the last update in December when it expanded patient access after reaching agreements with multiple payers, several additional contracts had been signed including Cigna, Humana, and Highmark, taking total coverage to 60 million insured lives.
Since launch healthcare professionals have generated around 2,500 prescriptions for Accrufer into the firm’s patient assistance and reimbursement hub with ‘significant’ growth seen from the third and fourth quarters.
Awareness among professionals has more than doubled to 65% since launch, the company said.
Chief executive Gregg Madison commented: ‘We will remain focused on continuing the strong momentum in the US and ensuring the group has the resources required to deliver on this goal.
‘We believe Accrufer®/Feraccru® has the potential to be the ‘best in class’ oral iron replacement product and our efforts over the last six months have set the company up to expand access and grow sales in 2022 and beyond.’
PARTNERS OUTSIDE THE US
In the US the company is commercializing Accrufer through its own sales and marketing resources, while in other regions it has engaged distribution partners.
In Europe where the therapy is called Feraccru, Shield’s partner Norgine BV increased volumes by 60% year-on-year.
The company also signed out-licensing agreements with two new partners in Korea and Canada, Korea Pharma Co and KYE Pharmaceuticals respectively.
